


Housemates

by sandersonsister



Category: The Maze Runner (2014), The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2018-03-04 14:04:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3070877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandersonsister/pseuds/sandersonsister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thomas shouldn't have let Teresa talk him into moving into a house with a bunch of people he didn't know. Of course there's someone he's attracted to living here. Because that's the way his life works. He shouldn't have listened to Teresa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving In

**Author's Note:**

> Second shot at a Maze Runner fic. This one will be longer. I hope everyone likes it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter edited on 1/28/2018.

Thomas wasn’t really sure how he had ended up here. Teresa had been his best friend since he was three and they had been talking about moving into an apartment together for months now since neither of them could afford something on their own. At twenty- two, they were both ready to get out of their parents house. Somehow, the “let’s be roommates!” speech Teresa had been giving him had turned into a “I found the perfect place! One small thing…”

Yeah, that “small thing” was three other guys.

Teresa had, apparently, made a new friend. This friend had bought a house a couple of years ago and had been renting rooms to some of his friends. They currently had two rooms open and had offered one of the rooms to Teresa – who in turn had pulled Thomas into renting the other room. 

So here he was, staring at a white two story house while Teresa pulled various items out of the back of Thomas’s dads truck (he had barrowed it so they could bring over the box’s – the bigger items, such as beds and dressers, had been moved when Thomas was at work the day before).

“Thomas! Are you going to help me or are you going to stand there?!” Teresa demanded, turning to him with ferocious eyes and placing her hands on her hips in annoyance.

“T, I don’t even know where I’m going yet,” Thomas reminded her, rolling his eyes at her show of annoyance. He had grown immune years ago. “In case you forgot, I’ve never been here.”

Teresa grimaced slightly at the words. “Right. Well, I let Minho know we are here and he said he’d be out in a minute to help us move the boxes in.”

As if summoned, the front door of the house flew open and two young men, both around his age if Thomas had to guess, spilled out onto the lawn. “Teresa! Hi!” One of the men yelled, running toward them with a bright smile on his face. He was Asian, with broad shoulders and strong arms. “You guys need help? You must be Thomas! I’m Minho! This is Gally,” he said quickly, motioning to the other boy beside him.

Gally merely nodded, his arms crossed over his chest as his eyes raked over Thomas. Thomas nodded back, his stomach sinking. Something about this guy didn’t sit well with him – something he had been afraid of when Teresa suggested moving into a house full of people he didn’t know. It would be just his luck to dislike his new roommates. 

“Gally, help Teresa unload everything and I’ll give Thomas a quick tour! We’ll come back and help move everything into the house!” Minho rambled, grabbing onto Thomas’s arm and pulling him toward the house. Thomas looked over his shoulder to Teresa, eyes wide, only to see her smirking back at him. 

Some best friend she is.  
“Alright, living room,” Minho started, gesturing to the open room with a worn out sofa and two recliners that were facing a television. Thomas noted the multiple gaming systems surrounding the television and suddenly knew why Teresa was so fond of this guy. “Do you play?”

Thomas nodded, “Some.” Yeah, some. Teresa was the gamer out of the two of them but he couldn’t have been her friend if he didn’t at least play a bit.

“Awesome! Next is the kitchen,” Minho continued further into the house, showing a small kitchen with mismatched chairs at a table. Minho just waved his hand around, obviously not having much to say about the room, before leading them back into the living room and down a hallway. “Main bathroom, my room is across the hall. This,” he pushed open what Thomas thought was just a door to a closet, only to show steps leading down, “is the basement. When I got the house it was unfinished and a freaking mess. Newt, he’s not here right now you can meet him later, fixed it up and it’s his room. Not going down there, privacy and all.” He pulled the door shut once more and pointed to the staircase leading up. “Come on then.”

Thomas followed him up the stairs and into another hallway. “Gally’s room,” Minho said, motioning to the first door on the right, “across from that is bathroom. You and Gally will be sharing that one, Newt and I share the one downstairs. Not that you can’t use it or anything, its just easier in the morning’s when everyone is trying to get ready…” he trailed off and blinked for a moment, as if he got lost in what he was saying, before shrugging and motioning to the door beside the bathroom. “Teresa’s. We gave her the master bedroom. It has its own bath so we don’t have to worry about…” and there he went again but this time he blushed brightly as he turned and pushed open the door across from Teresa’s. “Tada! This one is yours.”

Thomas stepped in, looking around the room curiously. It wasn’t huge but it definitely wasn’t small. About the size of his room at his parents. The queen size bed had been set up in the middle, the headboard pressed against the wall, while the dresser was positioned on the wall on the right. His computer desk was on the left, with the bookshelf beside it. 

“I don’t know how much Teresa has told you… did she explain food and stuff?” 

Thomas snorted at the question and shook his head, “The only thing I got from Teresa was ‘I found the perfect place for us! Don’t argue Thomas!’”. 

Minho laughed loudly, wrapping his arms around his stomach, “Yeah, I can see that. Basically, you pay rent to me every month and it goes toward all the bills. I take some of that and put it into the grocery fund and every week someone goes shopping. We keep a list of the refrigerator of what we need. There is a calendar in the kitchen that we write down if we are going to be here for meals...” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not good at explaining it, Newt is better. He came up with the system anyway. But, basically, everyone’s name is on a board and we write our schedules down there. That way whoever’s turn it is to cook knows if someone is going to be here or not. We take turns making breakfast and dinner, lunch is fend for yourself… did that make any sense?”

Thomas nodded, making a mental note to go write his information on the “board” and see when it was his turn for cooking. He wasn’t a great cook but most of his simple meals were passable. “Do we have a schedule for other things, too?”

Minho nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. Just like cleaning after the meals and taking out trash and stuff. We added you guys in last night.”

Thomas nodded and the two went back downstairs, not surprised to see that Gally and Teresa had moved most of the stuff out of the truck. “What do you have in here, Greenie?” Gally huffed, holding one of the boxes and passing it off to Thomas as soon as he walked toward him. 

Thomas groaned at the sudden weight but raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “Greenie? And books.”

“Thomas is a nerd,” Teresa teased as she walked by them, a large box in her arms.

Thomas rolled his eyes; he was used to the comments from his friend, and followed her into the house. Between the three boys and Teresa it took about thirty minutes to get the boxes where they needed to go and then the two were left to unpack. 

“Well,” Teresa huffed from across the hall, her hands on her hips as she looked around her room. Thomas just chuckled as he watched her from his own open door. “We should go check out that schedule – Minho told you about that, right?”

Thomas nodded, “Yeah. I think he said it was in the kitchen?”

The two made their way back down the stairs, Thomas laughing when they passed Minho groaning from his sprawled position on the couch, and made their way into the kitchen. Gally was leaning against the counter, cramming a sandwich into his mouth. “Looks like I have cooking breakfast on Tuesday,” Teresa said, staring at the board hanging on the wall, “and cleaning on Thursday. You have dinner Monday and cleaning Wednesday.” 

Gally swallowed quickly, motioning to the calendar beside the board, “Write you schedules down there. That way if someone has something to do one day and can’t cook or whatever we can change the schedule around.”

Teresa grabbed the sharpie beside the calendar and began to fill out her schedule, every so often pausing to frown in concentration. Thomas guessed she was having trouble remembering. After a few minutes she let out a deep sigh and passed the sharpie to Thomas. “I need to unpack,” she muttered as she did. She sighed once again and made her way out of the kitchen. 

Thomas blinked as she retreated. He wasn’t going to question her odd behavior – honestly, he really should be used to her mood swings. He turned his attention to the schedule. It was Saturday and Thomas had to take off of work for the move, so let’s see… he worked nine to three tomorrow, and had classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 2. Tuesday and Thursday he only had a lab from 10 to 12. At least the classes didn’t change until next semester. His work schedule was a little trickier.

Thomas worked at a local coffee shop and his hours tended to change drastically depending on the week. This next Monday he worked from 3 to 8, Tuesday he had the morning shift from 5 to 9:30, Wednesday was 3 to eleven and he was off Thursday and Friday, and working 12 to 8 on Saturday. That meant it was going to be hard for him to cook dinner on Monday, and do the cleaning Wednesday. He let out a sigh, turning to look at Gally. “If you can’t-“

“Just look at the schedule and see if someone will trade you,” Gally muttered, rolling his eyes as he looked over Thomas’s shoulder. “You get you schedule a week in advance? We can try to work around it.”

“Usually two,” Thomas answered, scanning the calendar to see if there was anyone that could take his time and he could work theirs. Teresa had late classes on Monday’s, so that was out. Gally was open, but his day for cooking was Wednesday, so that wouldn’t work either. Minho was also open Monday and he had the breakfast shift Monday morning, maybe he would just trade him? 

“I can trade cleaning days,” Gally muttered, marking his name off of the Friday slot and placing Thomas’s in, while placing his own over Thomas’s Wednesday. “Hey, Minho! Trade Thomas cooking on Monday!”

“Why?”

“He works late! You take dinner, he can do breakfast!”

“Fine!”

“See Greenie? All worked out,” Gally muttered, smirking slightly. 

Thomas nodded, looking over the board and noticing Newt’s name was on most of the cooking slots. The others only had to cook one day a week, but Newt had the rest. “Why is Newt cooking so much?”

“Huh? Oh. Newt goes to school but he doesn’t work. He trades his rent for doing most of the cooking and klunk. He also fixed the basement so it’s actually livable. We just do the cooking and stuff on the days that he has classes or can’t be here.” 

Thomas nodded in understanding and looked at the calendar toward Newt’s name. He was on for dinner tonight, but it looked like Minho had been on breakfast. “He went out of town with his girlfriend yesterday. I think he said he’d be back around five,” Gally answered the unasked question, shrugging his broad shoulders. “Girl’s a menace. Wish he’d just get rid of her.”

Thomas wasn’t sure how to reply as he didn’t know the girl in question, but he didn’t have too. Minho took care of that for him, “Oh, stiff it, Gally,” he muttered, walking into the kitchen and looking at Thomas’s schedule before whistling. “busy, aren’t you?”

“You don’t like her either,” Gally snapped at the other man, moving back toward the counter and his sandwich.

“No, but I also don’t make comments about it. You know how Newt is. Even if he wants to end it with her he won’t because it would prove you right. Back off and he’ll do it sooner or later,” Minho said calmly, crossing his arms over his chest before turning his eyes to Thomas. “Honestly though, she really is horrible. No clue why he started up with her in the first place.”

“Maybe he liked her?” Thomas questioned, smiling lightly as Minho chuckled.

“Wait until you meet her. You’ll understand then. I don’t know how anyone could like her.” 

Thomas nodded, motioning toward the stairs. “I gotta unpack.” 

____________

It took a little over two hours to get everything out of boxes and in some semblance of order. He needed to redo his books and his movies but otherwise things seemed to be where they needed to go. He had just sprawled out on his bed, exhausted, when Teresa barged into his room with a bright smile on her face.

“You know, you should know by now not to do that,” Thomas remarked mildly, remembering the times his best friend had come into his room unannounced and seen him in positions they would rather both forget. 

Teresa’s smile instantly dropped at the memory. “I figured you were unpacking. God, we’ve only been here three hours!”

Thomas just laughed and sat up, looking toward his friend. “What’s up?”

“Dinner! You haven’t got to meet Newt yet, right? He’s been here for about an hour but he said you haven’t made an appearance. He made chicken!”

Thomas moved to his feet, feeling somewhat nervous to meet the last member of the household. He guessed Gally wasn’t too bad, he had helped him in the kitchen after all, and Minho seemed great. He really hoped the last guy was alright.

He followed Teresa down the stairs and into the kitchen. Minho and Gally were already sitting at the table with some sort of chicken on their plates. “Hey, I’m Newt,” an accented voice sounded from Thomas’s left, making the male freeze slightly. He always had a think for accents.

Thomas turned his head slightly to see a smiling blonde. A very attractive smiling blonde. He smiled back automatically, mentally cursing Teresa for not warning him. “Hey, I’m Thomas.” 

Newt’s smile grew as he motioned toward the table. “Help yourself.”

Thomas slid into the seat beside Teresa who was fighting back a grin. He shot her a glare before taking a piece of chicken as Newt sat across from him, beside Minho. “Unpacked?” Minho asked through a mouthful of food. Teresa shot him a disgusted look in response and Thomas felt his own nose scrunch at the sight.

“I am. And Thomas was passed out on his bed, so hopefully he is too,” Teresa teased. 

“Mostly,” Thomas agreed, once again ignoring her. “Just need to fix the bookshelves-“

“Of course you do,” Teresa laughed, cutting him off. It was a nasty habit of hers. She turned to look at the other boys, shaking her head, “Those bookshelves – he knows where every book is. If you move one, he’ll know.”

“Bloody hell, Tommy,” Newt said, raising an eyebrow, “that important, are they?”

Thomas blinked, a little taken back by the nickname, but shrugged in return. “I like to read. And this one,” he said, elbowing the still laughing girl beside him, “likes to take my stuff without asking. Or hide it.” 

Newt turned to her with a questioning look, only to receive a shrug in response. “It’s funny to watch him freak out.”

Minho laughed brightly, looking from Thomas to Teresa and back again. Thomas wasn’t sure he liked the calculating look in his eye. It was a look he had seen many, many times before. “How long have you two known each other?”

“Since we were three,” Teresa replied easily, taking a small bite of her chicken, “my parents moved beside his and we were the only kids in the neighborhood. It was either hang out with the loser or be by myself.”

“We were three!” Thomas said, rolling his eyes, “Pretty sure we didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. My mom used to babysit you.” 

Teresa waved away his words, “Not the point. Plenty of people are friends when they are little and ignore each other when they get older.”

Minho laughed loudly yet again while Newt let out a smirk. Gally seemed to be ignoring the conversation. “She’s right about that.”

“So, you two aren’t…?” Minho trailed off, wagging his eyebrows.

Thomas felt his nose scrunch in disgust while Teresa recoiled, “No! Oh no! That’s disgusting!”

“Thanks!” Thomas replied sarcastically, sending her a small galre.

Teresa ignored him and continued to shake her head frantically, “It would be like kissing my brother.”

“Some people find that attractive. The brother thing,” Minho replied seriously, making everyone turn to him in horror. Even Gally looked up. Minho shrugged, unrepentant. “Well, they do!”


	2. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas's first day in the house.
> 
> Edited 1/28/2018

Thomas fell asleep quickly that night, something that surprised him considering he usually had a hard time falling asleep in strange places. It must have just been because he had such a long day, moving boxes and unpacking. 

Either way, he woke up the next morning feeling completely rested. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was only seven so he still had about an hour before he needed to jump in the shower, get ready, and leave for work. He didn’t need to be there until nine and he was a lot closer now than he had been before. Thomas smiled to himself at the thought and stretched out on his bed like a cat. Maybe this would all work out.

“Thomas? You awake?” Teresa called through the door softly. 

Thomas fought back a groan. Of course she would be awake at seven o’clock on a Sunday morning. “Yeah?”

The door opened instantly and Teresa ran inside. She jumped up on his bed with a wide smile on her face. “Newt says he’s going to have breakfast ready around eight – he saw that you had to be at work at nine.”

Thomas shifted uncomfortably, “He didn’t have to do that. I could have just grabbed a bagel or something when I got there.”

“Too late!” Teresa quipped, lying on the bed and resting her head against Thomas’s chest. “They’re great, aren’t they? Minho is awesome and Newt is such a sweetheart. Gally seems alright too.”

Thomas grunted in agreement and pulled himself up into a sitting position, dislodging Teresa from his chest. “Hey!” She squawked as she fell against the bed.

“Shower,” he muttered, grabbing his work clothes and making his way into the bathroom. If Newt was going to have breakfast ready by eight he might as well make himself presentable. Maybe he would get the chance to talk to the other boy without an awkward conversation, unlike the night before. 

They really didn’t converse much after the incest comment from Minho. Thomas was pretty sure everyone else was feeling just as uncomfortable as he was. Well, Minho had seemed fine.

He took a quick shower, got dressed, fixed his hair into some sort of order, and brushed his teeth before he decided he could make his way downstairs. He pulled the bathroom door open only to see Gally reaching for the handle. “Done, Greenie? Great. Can you move?” The other boy grunted.

Thomas stepped out of Gally’s way quickly, not surprised when the door slammed shut behind him a moment later. He just shrugged and went down the stairs into the kitchen. “Morning!” Minho greeted as Thomas passed him. Once again the other boy was sprawled out on the couch with a controller in his hand. Thomas noticed he didn’t even move his eyes from the television, where he seemed to be shooting at some sort of alien or something. 

“Morning,” Thomas muttered in reply, stepping into the kitchen and slowly sinking into the chair he had sat in the night before.

Newt turned toward him, his blue eyes bright with amusement from where he seemed to be cooking pancakes. Thomas’s mouth began to water instantly. “Morning, Tommy. You look ready to go,” he commented, eyes tracing over Thomas’s clothing. 

Thomas nodded, “I’ll leave about eight thirty. Pancakes?”

“Hope it’s alright,” Newt said, heating up the burner. “Seemed safe enough until I find out what you and Teresa like.”

“Teresa is basically a human garbage disposal,” Thomas commented, hearing a snapped “Hey!” from where Teresa had apparently joined Minho in the living room, “and I like anything that doesn’t include mushrooms.”

Newt looked at him in faux horror. “No mushrooms? Blasphemy!” 

Thomas chuckled as Newt smirked at him, “So no mushrooms in your omelet. Noted.” 

Thomas groaned at the thought of an omelet. “That sounds amazing too. I’ve been eating so much frozen food since I started working all the time… I can’t remember the last time I ate something homemade.” 

This time the horror on Newt’s face looked real, “Frozen food? No. Gally eats that trash for lunch sometimes, but no. Nothing is worth that trash.” He turned back to the pancakes, face twisted in concentration. “I should have some real food ready in a minute.”

Thomas fought back a chuckle and watched the other boy cook for a couple of minutes. He tried to come up with a topic of conversation but everything he thought of seemed to be worse than the previous. He first thought of television shows he liked, then books, but none of them would probably interest the other boy. He was sure Newt already thought he was a complete nerd, thanks to Teresa, and he didn’t want to encourage the boy to think he was even weirder than he already thought. The only other topic he could think of was Newt’s girlfriend and, honestly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to open that can of worms yet. Or ever.

“So, where do you work?” Newt finally broke the silence. Thomas watched as the other boy skillfully flipped a pancake. 

“Uh, the coffee shop next to the bookstore on the square,” Thomas answered quickly, “Just until I graduate, anyway.”

“I’ve been there a few times,” Newt responded, sliding the pancake onto a plate, “Don’t think I’ve seen you, though.” 

Thomas shrugged. No, he was pretty sure he would have remembered seeing Newt. And he would really remember that accent. “My shift changes constantly and there are a few of us that work there.” His mind quickly latched onto another topic. A safe one. “So, you’re in college, right? What are you studying?”

“Engineering,” Newt answered, his lips quirking up when he noticed the shock that crossed Thomas’s face, “it’s interesting. What about you?”

“Computer science with a minor in business,” Thomas answered quickly. Engineering? So not only was this guy attractive with a great accent, he was also smart? Perfect. This just keeps getting better and better. 

“Good field,” Newt said, placing a plate full of pancakes on the table and sliding into the chair across from Thomas once again. “Hey! You lot! Breakfast.”

Minho and Teresa moved into the kitchen instantly, both pushing each other to see who could make it to the table first, before they descended on the pancakes like a pack of hyenas. Thomas watched in shock as Minho was able to stuff an entire pancake in his mouth. He had been sure Teresa was the only person that ate like that.

Newt rolled his eyes and slapped his friend in the back of the head, making Minho let out a wounded noise and stare at the blonde boy with puppy eyes. “Manners,” Newt reprimanded, pushing the plate of pancakes toward Thomas. “Didn’t know she was a female Minho,” he said, motioning toward Teresa, “better get some before they disappear.”

Thomas let out a chuckle as he took a couple pancakes, only to groan as Teresa elbowed him in the stomach. “Teresa!” He snapped, rubbing the area. That was definitely going to bruise.

She ignored him and began to talk to Minho about whatever game he had been playing. Teresa had always been into video games more than Thomas. He enjoyed creating video games, but he wasn’t big into playing them. It was fun every so often, just not constantly. 

Gally practically fell into the kitchen at that point, slowly making his way to his chair and placing his head against the table. “Not a morning person,” Newt commented quietly to Thomas, winking. Thomas sucked in a quick breath at the gesture as he fought back the urge to blush. 

Gally looked up and glared at the British boy before his eyes landed on the one pancake left. “Dammitt, Minho!” He snapped, grabbing the remaining pancake as he glared at his friend.

“It wasn’t just me!” Minho protested, waving a frantic hand toward Teresa and turning Gally’s attention toward the female.

“Should have been quicker,” Teresa replied nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. She was not in the least fazed at the glare she was receiving. 

Gally opened his mouth to respond angrily but apparently thought better of it as his mouth snapped shut and he bit angrily into his breakfast.

Thomas turned his eyes to Newt, only to see the boy watching the exchange in amusement. “Need to start making more,” he said with a cheeky grin, taking a bite of his own breakfast. 

“So, what were you two talking about?” Teresa asked, glancing at Newt and Thomas. “You know, before we came in. When you were here. Alone.”

Thomas shot a glare at his friend before sneaking a glance across the table. Newt had an eyebrow raised in amusement, though he seemed to be slightly confused. “Not much. What our major’s are. What about you?”

Teresa frowned, “My what?”

“What is your shirt size?” The boy asked sarcastically. Thomas choked on his breakfast and Teresa dropped her fork in surprise. Minho gaped at the blond as Gally chuckled. The blond merely rolled his eyes. “Your major. You know, what we just said we were talking about?” 

Teresa’s eyes narrowed as she picked up her fork and Thomas swallowed back a laugh. “Accounting.”

Newt’s eyes widened and disgust flashed across his face, “Why?” 

“Because I can,” Teresa replied dangerously, her hand tightening around her fork. She always hated it when people questioned her degree choice. Thomas subtly moved away from her, not knowing what she was planning on doing with that fork.

Apparently he wasn’t subtle enough, because Teresa shot him a glare and Minho laughed loudly. Thomas grimaced as he stood up and checked the time. “Gotta head out.”

“When will you be back?” Teresa questioned, looking away from where she had been glaring at Newt. Thomas shivered as the other three boys turned their attention to him, making him uncomfortable with all the attention. 

“Uh, I get off at three but then I need to drop my dad’s truck off at the house and get my car,” Thomas replied, looking toward the ceiling in an attempt to ignore all the eyes her felt on him.

“Alright, have a good day,” Teresa said, instantly turning and starting up a conversation with Minho. She knew she had made him uncomfortable and it was her way of making it up to him. Thomas looked back at the group once again and received a smile from Newt. He smiled back quickly and turned around, heading out to work.

________________ 

He should have stayed in bed. First, he got screamed at by a customer who didn’t understand that a cappuccino wasn’t like a cappuccino you got at a convenient store. He had asked her if she wanted any syrup, had explained that it would just consist of milk and espresso if she didn’t, but she hadn’t listened. She had taken one drink before spitting it out and screaming at him. He had tried to remain calm, really, he had, but he had lost it when she had thrown the incredibly hot drink on the counter, causing it to splash up on his arms and shirt.

Needless to say, he said some things that resulted in her talking to his manager. And his manager, in turn, talked to him. Only two hours into his shift his head had started to pound and he knew he wasn’t being as personable as he should be. It was hard to be friendly and patient when you were seeing black spots and fighting back nausea. 

Second, his tips for the day had been horrendous. Usually he walked away with about twenty dollars at the end of his shift, sometimes more, sometimes less. Today his total was two dollars. Two. He knew it was most likely because of his attitude after his “discussion” with his manager, but still. Two. 

And then, he went to drop off his dad’s truck only to find his dad (who had known he was coming, by the way) had decided to go to the hardware store and had taken his car instead of his mom’s. So he had to sit with his mom for an hour and waited for his dad to get home with a headache and a coffee covered shirt.

He finally managed to get home around four thirty. He walked into the house and saw Newt sitting on the couch with Minho and Teresa. The former two had controllers in their hands, both yelling at each other and the television, while Newt was laughing and shaking his head at their antics. 

All three looked up when he walked in, “You’re late,” Teresa sniped, moving her eyes back to the screen.

“Issues,” Thomas muttered, moving past them and toward the stairs. 

“Bad day?” A soft voice asked right before Thomas made his way up. 

Thomas turned his head slightly and saw that Newt had followed him into the hallway and was leaning against the wall. He looked at Thomas, concern showing in his eyes as they landed first on his shirt and then on the red dots on his arms. 

“Horrible,” Thomas agreed, gesturing toward the stairs. “I need to change.”

Newt took a step forward, his eyes still focused on the splotches of red that dotted Thomas’s arms. “You get burned?”

“Comes with the job,” Thomas muttered, taking a step toward the stairs. “I’ll be down to eat later. My head is pounding.”

Newt didn’t stop him again. Thomas slowly made his way up the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him. He didn’t bother to turn on a light. A light would just make his head hurt more. He slowly pulled off his clothes and put on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt before crawling into his bed. He closed his eyes tightly to try and block out the sunlight streaming into his room. Even with the blinds closed the light continued to leak through. He groaned as his head continued to pound. 

“Tommy?” Newt asked softly, slowly opening his door. Thomas kept his eyes closed but gestured for the other boy to come in, though he wasn’t really sure why. He should have been irritated that Newt had just walked into his room and even more irritated that he had ignored what Thomas had told him about seeing him at dinner. But he felt somewhat… happy that Newt wanted to talk to him this badly. “I brought you some headache pills and water. Thought it might help.”

Thomas slowly let his eyes open, squinting as black dots swam in front of his vision, and saw the other boy holding out a glass of water. The pills were in his hand. “Thanks,” Thomas said in appreciation, slowly sitting up and taking the offered items. A rush of gratitude swam through him as he swallowed the pills down.

“Sure,” Newt replied, watching as he drank the water. “You look horrible. Light bothering you?”

Thomas nodded and instantly regretted it. He slammed his eyes closed as his stomach swam. He cautiously settled back down on the bed and threw his arm over his eyes, trying to block out the sunlight. “Alright, up you get, Tommy,” Newt said softly. Thomas forced his eyes open once again so he could look at the other boy in confusion.

“Huh?”

“My room is in the basement. No bloody windows down there,” Newt responded to the look, moving forward to grab Thomas’s arm and pulling him to his feet. Thomas just frowned, mind working slow through the pain as Newt led him down the stairs. And then down again, into his dark room. “Take a nap, Tommy,” Newt said, gently pushing him toward the bed. Thomas fell onto it gratefully, burying his head in the pillow. A pillow that, oddly enough, smelled like sugar cookies. “I’ll wake you for dinner,” Newt continued softly before disappearing up the stairs.

Thomas was asleep before the door clicked shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter! Hopefully this chapter will be just as entertaining.
> 
> The lady at the coffee shop is something that used to happen to me often when I worked as a barista. I actually have some scars on my hands from angry customers. Not fun. 
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think!


	3. Day 1 Continued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/28/2018

Thomas woke to complete darkness. He opened his eyes and blinked in confusion, wondering why there wasn’t any form of light. He couldn’t have slept that long. It took a few second for the memories to come back to him. Oh, so this was Newt’s room. 

And he was lying in Newt’s bed.

Thomas rolled over, burying his face into Newt’s pillow and feeling like a total creeper as he took a deep breath, letting Newt’s smell wash over him. Good Lord, he was completely insane. Two days. He had known this guy for two days. Why was he acting like a stalker?

With that thought in mind, he sat up and slowly moved toward the edge of the bed. He blindly moved his hand around where he thought a table should be. If it was this dark down here, Newt had to have a lamp or something by the bed, right?

His prediction proved true and he quickly flicked it on, letting a soft glow illuminate the area. He blinked and let his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness before studying the area around him. Newt’s bed was pushed all the way against the wall, a table beside it which held the lamp and a clock. 6:30 pm. He had slept for a few hours and apparently those pills had worked because Thomas didn’t feel even the slightest discomfort in his head. His limbs were tired, like he had run a marathon or something, but it was a familiar sensation.

There was a desk across the room, holding a laptop, with a bookshelf beside it. There seemed to be a few clothing items on the floor but overall the room was clean. Thomas stood and slowly made his way toward the stairs, stretching out as he went. He had just made it to the door when it swung open, revealing a surprised Newt. “Oh, I was just coming to see how you were. Food’s done.”

Thomas gave the other man a grateful smile as they walked toward the kitchen. “Much better, thanks for the pills.”

“Don’t mention it,” came the accented reply, a small smile crossing his face. “Hope you like meatloaf.”

Thomas followed him into the kitchen. Gally was absent but Teresa and Minho were both sitting at the table. “Gally not here?”

“Work,” Teresa replied, nodding toward the calendar. “You alright? You looked like hell when you came in earlier.”

“Long day,” Thomas replied, giving Newt a smile as he handed Thomas a plate. “Sleep helped.”

“This girl cheats!” Minho said loudly, pointing toward Teresa. He had obviously been waiting, impatiently, to make the comment. Teresa just raised her eyebrows in response. “There is no way she could have won every single game! You didn’t tell me she cheats!” He said to Thomas accusingly.

Thomas rolled his eyes at the other man, “She doesn’t cheat. She’s just good a games.”

Minho glared rebelliously while Teresa smirked and Newt chuckled. “Looks like Minho has finally met his match.”

They finished eating then made their way into the main room, Minho and Teresa instantly picked up controllers and started yet another game. Thomas resigned himself to watching the two, sinking down onto the floor in front of the couch while Newt took the open seat. “There is a chair, Tommy,” Newt said from behind him, motioning to the recliner in the corner of the room.

Thomas merely shrugged, not wanting to move, and leaned against the couch between Newt’s legs and Teresa’s. He was fine on the floor. Teresa gently nudged him with her knee, smiling as he glanced back at her. 

He watched the two of them play for awhile, his back resting against the couch and his left arm pressed against Teresa’s right leg. Eventually he grew bored but didn’t want to head to his room and ignore his new roommates. 

After another ten minutes of intense boredom he finally stood and walked down the hall, not noticing the questioning look he got for a certain blonde. 

He was back only a minute later, his laptop in hand. Thomas sank back down to his spot on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him and setting his computer down on them. He quickly opened his browser, thinking that maybe he could start looking up information for a History paper he had due in a couple of weeks. 

He became absorbed in his research, drowning out the loud exclamations from Minho and the sarcastic comments from Teresa. Every so often, he would hear Newt chuckle, but he didn’t know what was amusing the other boy. Teresa and Minho didn’t seem to find it funny.

Thomas had held off on taking his last history class, history not being his favorite subject, but he had finally signed up for American History. The class required a ten page paper that was worth about thirty percent of the final grade and they were able to choose from a list of topics. He had chosen Lizzie Borden, always slightly interested in the mystery around the Borden murders. And the more research he did, the more interested he became. 

He jumped, startled, when Newt sank down beside him, squinting at the computer screen. “Uhh…”

“I’ve been reading over your shoulder,” Newt told him, completely unabashed. “Fonts too small for me to see up there.”

Thomas let out a startled laugh, angling the computer so the other boy could see it more clearly. “Is this for school? Or are you just interested?” Newt asked, his voice soft as his eyes skimmed over the text.

“School. Have to write a paper,” Thomas confirmed, looking back toward the computer screen.

Newt merely nodded and continued to read with Thomas. “Well, that’s interesting,” he muttered, pointing to the time table on the screen. “If based on that time scale, she really couldn’t have done it. Not the time.”

“No one knows what happened in that thirty minutes,” Thomas replied, also confused as he looked at the time table. “The only person that could really tell us anything was Lizzie and Bridgett. And both of their stories changed so often we really have no idea.”

Newt frowned and then motioned toward a few references on the screen. “You should probably try to find some of these. See if the books have more information and compare them to each other.”

Thomas had already pulled up the school library website, typing in the various titles. “They have one but the others aren’t available. I’ll probably stop by the bookstore one night when I get off work and try to find them there.”

Newt opened his mouth to respond, but glanced down to the right hand corner of the screen and groaned when he saw the time. “Sorry, I told Alyssa I would pick her up and take her to some movie she wants to see.” He stood slowly, reaching down to rub at his right knee. “You have breakfast in the morning, right? I have class early so I won’t be here.”

Thomas nodded, feeling disappointment and jealousy set in as he watched the other boy walk toward the door. “Night,” he called out as he left, receiving a “goodnight” in return from the other three.

“Alyssa the girlfriend?” Teresa questioned, not moving her eyes from the screen. Thomas fought back a scowl at the word. Girlfriend. What the hell was wrong with him? 

“Yep,” Minho replied, “though that’s not the name we usually call her.”

Teresa laughed loudly, destroying Minho’s…whatever that was and Minho let out a loud whine, falling back against the couch and throwing the controller down. “I’m done. My ego can’t take much more.”

Teresa rolled her eyes and nudged Thomas. “Wanna try?”

“Not remotely,” he said instantly, his own ego was permanently low because of the girl. Minho would learn soon. 

Teresa shot him a glare, obviously knowing what he was thinking, but turned her attention back to Minho. “She can’t be that bad.” 

Minho’s head was resting back against the couch, his eyes closed. “She isn’t. For a demon.”

Teresa scowled and smacked him in the chest, making the boy’s eyes fly open with a howl. “Come on, woman! Haven’t you emasculated me enough?!” He rubbed his chest, glaring at Teresa.

“Newt’s a nice guy. I’m sure he wouldn’t be with her if she was that horrible.” 

“Newt is a nice guy. Too nice sometimes,” Minho countered, “even when she acts like a complete… he just says she’s having a bad day. Personally, I think she has more bad days than she does good.”

Thomas stood and made his way out of the room, not wanting to hear any more about Newt’s girlfriend. No matter what Minho, and Gally, thought of her, Newt was still with her, so he had to like her. And Thomas didn’t have any right to feel jealous when the girl was mentioned, he barely even knew Newt. 

But even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew the logic wouldn’t work. He had somehow developed a completely irrational crush on his roommate and he needed to find a way to make it disappear as fast as possible. 

 

After a long night of not being able to sleep, Thomas finally pulled himself out of bed around 7:30. He figured that would give him enough time to make breakfast and have it ready by eight, get ready, and be at class by nine. 

He had just made it downstairs and toward the kitchen as Newt walked toward the front door, a piece of toast in hand. “Off to class,” he stated, pulling open the front door and throwing Thomas a smirk, “good luck cooking.”

Thomas mentally groaned as the door clicked shut. He hated cooking and he wasn’t very good at it. Most things tended to burn. At least they were somewhat edible, even if slightly scorched. Oh well, he could scramble eggs. Not much could go wrong with that, right?

Apparently the others agreed, as the eggs were devoured within a few minutes and everyone rushed around to get ready – well, everyone except Minho whose first class wasn’t until ten. “Shanks, you shouldn’t have signed up for morning classes!” He laughed as they ran up the stairs.

Luckily, Gally had showered and gotten ready before breakfast so Thomas could have the bathroom to himself. He made it downstairs and out the door by eight-thirty, plenty of time to get to class. Gally and Teresa were both already gone.

School flew by and before Thomas knew it, he was heading into work and praying for a better day than the one before. “Hey, Thomas!” Chuck, a college freshman that Thomas worked with, called as soon as Thomas walked through the door. 

Thomas smiled back, glad he was working with Chuck for the night. The kid might talk a lot but he always got his shit done and Thomas didn’t feel like he had to do everything himself. Not like when he was working with others.

“Hey, Chuck,” Thomas greeted as he walked around the counter and grabbed his apron. “Who’s on closing tonight?” 

“Courtney and Adam,” Chuck replied with a sympathetic look, turning to face the customer that had walked up to the register. The frown instantly turned into a smile as asked what he could get the man.

Thomas himself scowled as he grabbed the cup Chuck handed him and moved to the espresso machine. Chuck had been scheduled the noon to five shift that day, which meant one of the closers would be in to relieve him at five and the other would be in at six, most likely to relieve Brenda who was currently working the drive thru. That meant Thomas, who worked until eight, would have to spend hours alone with the two employees he liked the least. 

Adam was extremely arrogant and, though he had only worked in the shop two weeks longer than Thomas, loved to tell him how he was doing everything wrong. Courtney was one of the employees that refused to do anything except work the cash register – usually because it would “ruin her nails” (Thomas usually pointed out that it was against the health code to have her nails painted anyway, in case some of it got in the drinks or food. She would then tell him that was the reason she worked the register).

So, Thomas resigned himself to working at the drink station the rest of the night. “It won’t be too bad,” Chuck tried to say cheerfully, “at least you don’t have to actually close with them.”

He had a point. Neither of them started closing anything down until twenty til, so it usually took about forty-five minutes to get out of there after closing. When he closed, Thomas was usually out within fifteen minutes. 

“So, how’s the new place?” Brenda questioned, smiling at Thomas as she finished the last customer in the drive thru. 

“Good. Roommates seem to be alright.”

“Who are they?” She questioned. Brenda was also a senior and she was pretty popular. It was a possibility she knew at least one of them.

“I don’t know last names,” Thomas said, suddenly uncomfortable by the fact. He probably should have asked. It’s a little odd he didn’t know the full names of the people he was living with. “But first names are Minho, Gally, and Newt.”

Brenda’s face lit up and a huge smile overtook her. “I love those guys! Well… Gally can be a real… but Newt and Minho are great! Isn’t Newt just adorable?” 

Thomas agreed before he could really think about it, and, if possible, Brenda’s smile grew even wider. “Uh oh, does Thomas have a new crush?” 

Thomas felt his face heat up as Chuck began to laugh. “No, he’s my roommate. And has a girlfriend. No crush here.”

Chuck laughed louder, leaning back against the counter and Brenda giggled into her hand. “Of course, no crush what-so-ever.”

“Leave me alone,” Thomas muttered, turning back to the espresso machine and grabbing a cloth to clean the already clean tray. Brenda could read him like a book and there was no way she was going to let him live this down. 

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Brenda cooed, placing her hand on his shoulder, “it’s cute and he’s a good guy.”

“Stop it.”

Luckily for Thomas, that’s when the usual college and high school students came in for their afternoon cup, keeping the three of them busy for the next couple of hours. Before Thomas even realized it, it was time for Chuck to head out and Courtney took his place, long red nails flying over the keys of the register. 

“Night,” Chuck said, giving both Brenda and Thomas a sympathetic look as he basically ran out of the shop. Traitor. 

Thomas just hoped they would stay busy for the next hour – Brenda and Courtney did not get along and Thomas really didn’t want to be in the middle of it.

He got his wish for about twenty minutes and then Courtney’s friend walked in the door. Thomas let out a sigh, closing his eyes at the dark haired girl walked toward the counter. She was in Thomas’s lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays and had somehow managed to become his partner for the semester. She had a bad habit of flirting with him constantly, both in class and at work.

And she never seemed to get the hint that he wasn’t interested. 

Not that she wasn’t pretty – actually the girl was gorgeous with her dark hair and blue eyes. But she gave off the vide of being better than everyone else and always got upset if someone didn’t treat her like she was. 

“Haven!” Courtney squealed, clapping her hands together. “You two can handle it for a minute, yeah?” she asked, taking her apron off and walking around the counter. 

“You just got here!” Brenda said in outrage, eyes narrowing. 

“She’ll be back in a minute,” Haven said, rolling her eyes before looking toward Thomas, “hey, Tom. Looking forward to the lab tomorrow? It should be fun,” she said, winking at him and smiling with blood red lips. 

Thomas merely nodded, not wanting to encourage her in the slightest, and continued to make the mocha for the last customer. Haven narrowed her eyes before turning her attention back to Courtney. 

Thomas slid in front of the register, growing more and more irritated as Courtney’s “back in a minute” grew longer and longer. Thomas was taking orders, making the drinks, and passing them out as Brenda was doing the same for the drive-thru. The customers began to grow impatient, tapping their feet, looking pointedly at watches or phones, crossing their arms. Thomas clenched his teeth and fought back the urge to scream at the girl.

Apparently, Brenda didn’t feel the same urge. “Courtney! Break’s over, get over here!”

Courtney turned around and rolled her eyes before saying something to Haven and moving back behind the counter, forcing Thomas away from the register. He looked at the pile of cups, both for the front and drive-thru, with dismay before getting to work. 

Adam showed up in the middle of this and replaced a still fuming Brenda. “See you tomorrow, Thomas,” she said angrily, marching out the door. 

“What’s her problem?” Courtney snapped, finishing the order for the last customer. 

Thomas kept his mouth shut and let out a tired sigh a moment later once everyone had gotten their drinks. He shouldn’t have been so relieved – Haven made her way up to the counter as soon as he was finished. 

“So, Tom, there’s a party on Friday – are you going to be there?” She asked, biting her lip and looking at him under her lashes. 

“I just moved, need to unpack,” Thomas said shortly, turning his eyes away from the girl.

“Oh, well, I could always help.”

Thomas was more than ready to clock out by eight o’clock. After Haven had finally left, he had had to endure Courtney’s “I don’t know why you don’t just ask her out” and Adam’s “she’s freaking hot, man. What’s wrong with you?” the rest of the night. 

He finally made his way back to the house about eight-twenty, pulling up at the same time Newt was getting out of his own car. Newt stopped and waited as Thomas made his way out of the car and to the driveway. “Alright?” Newt asked tiredly, probably noticing Thomas’s annoyed expression.

“Co-workers,” Thomas replied, rolling his eyes as Newt laughed. 

“Yeah, been there. You eat anything yet?” 

Thomas shook his head and the two made their way into the kitchen, passing Minho and Teresa who were both glued to the TV. Again. “Don’t you two have homework or something?” Thomas asked.

“That’s what I said,” Gally cut in, making Thomas turn to the boy in surprise. He hadn’t seen him sitting in the recliner, “Apparently, this is more important.” The boy was staring down at his computer, frustration clear on his features, and Thomas felt it better not to ask.

Newt pulled open the refrigerators when they got to the kitchen, looking over his shoulder at Thomas. “Sandwich? We got turkey.” 

Thomas nodded and moved to get the bread, pulling out four pieces as Newt pulled various items out and placed them on the counter. 

The two worked in silence, putting together sandwiches and placing everything back they way they got it, and fell into chairs. “You always come back from work in a bad mood?” Newt questioned, taking a bite of his sandwich and looking at Thomas in amusement, “I’m starting to think there’s a pattern.”

Thomas gave him a tired smile, not wanting to admit it was probably true. “Just when I have to deal with stupid people.”

“Ah, so all the time then.”

Thomas let out a startled laugh. “True that. So, where were you?”

“Class. I have an eight o’clock class, only because it was the only time it was offered and it’s required I take it, but my other classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays don’t start until two. On Fridays I’m done at six, but Mondays and Wednesday’s I have a class from six to eight.”

“Yuck,” Thomas muttered, wondering why anyone would do that to themselves.

Newt chuckled, rolling his eyes, “It’s not that bad, Tommy. Plus, I don’t have classes on Tuesday’s or Thursdays, so it all works out.”

Thomas conceded the point and they both ate in silence. It was nice, sitting there with Newt and not feeling pressured to talk or anything. Thomas liked it. A lot. 

He stood quickly at that thought. He was supposed to be getting over the other boy, not finding more things he liked. “I have homework,” he sighed, giving his excuses as Newt looked at him in confusion. 

“Ah, have fun with that,” Newt replied, also standing making his way towards his own room. “See you in the morning, Tommy.”

“Probably not,” Thomas said, knowing he should just go up to his room but not wanting to be away from the other boy. Well, isn’t he full of contradictions today? “I go in at five, so I’ll probably leave here about four thirty.”

Newt let out a low whistle, leaning back against the wall. “Yeah, I won’t be up then,” he said, making Thomas chuckle. “Good job you have there. Got class tomorrow?”

“At ten. A lab.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you after that. Have you gone to the bookstore yet? To look for stuff for that paper you’re writing.”

Thomas groaned, closing his eyes and pressing the heal of his palm against his head. “I was going to do it today. Forgot.”

Newt looked at him hesitantly, “Do you want to go tomorrow? I mean, with me? I have a few things I want to get, so I just thought-“

“Yeah,” Thomas said quickly, heart pounding. “Yeah, sounds good.”

Newt sent a slow smile his way and moved toward the door that led to the basement, “Alright. Night, Tommy,” he said once again, making his way down the stairs and closing the door behind him.

Thomas stood in the hallway for a moment, heart pounding. Get a hold of yourself, he thought, it’s just going to the bookstore. It’s not like he asked you on a date. Girlfriend, Thomas. He has a girlfriend. He probably just wanted company.

And with those thoughts in mind, Thomas went up to his room to complete his homework. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to get much sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reviews! I hope you guys like this part. Let me know what you think.


	4. Day Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/28/2018

Thomas had been right, he slept horribly that night, tossing and turning the entire time, staring at the clock in annoyance. By the time he had to get out of bed he was sure he had managed to catch about an hours’ worth of sleep total. 

The house was silent as he left and he made sure to close the door softly behind him. He was sure no one would be up for hours and didn’t want to cause anyone to lose sleep. 

He got to the coffee shop and prepped everything quickly. The shop opened at five but the first group usually showed up about six. He and Brenda, who opened with him that day, both blinked sleepily at each other as they worked, neither in the mood for the usual antics. 

They worked flawlessly together as the hours progressed, both beginning to really wake up around seven. Brenda went back to teasing Thomas about his “crush” and Thomas continued to tell her to shut up with his face burning a bright red.

By the time Alli arrived to relieve him at nine, Thomas was sure his face had permanently turned a flattering shade of red. He shot Brenda one last glare before pulling off his apron and walking out from behind the counter. “Alright, I’m leaving now,” Thomas snapped, ignoring Brenda’s loud laughter and the giggle Alli tried to hide behind her hand. 

“Have a good day!” Brenda said as he walked out the door, “Say hi to Newt for me!”

Thomas let the door close behind him, scowling as he made his way to his car. He had already had an irritating morning and now he had to go to his lab and deal with Haven. 

Maybe Newt had a point about him always coming home in a bad mood.

The thought of Newt led him to remember their… trip to the bookstore this afternoon. He felt unusually excited about it. He knew it wasn’t anything to be so eager about, but he couldn’t help the thrill that went through his body every time it came into his mind. 

This was why he hadn’t managed to get any sleep.

Thomas parked his car and walked toward his class, knowing he was probably cutting it close but he really didn’t care. The closer it was to 10:00 the less time Haven had to bother him. 

He strolled into the class with about a minute to spare, the door shutting behind him only moments later. One thing about this class – if you were even a second late you were locked out and didn’t get points for that day. Thomas had been locked out twice and both times he felt guilty that he had been relieved not to have to sit next to his lab partner.

“Hey, Tom,” Haven greeted in a low voice, giving him a smirk as he sank into the chair beside her. 

Thomas didn’t bother to verbally respond. He merely nodded toward her to acknowledge the greeting and turned his attention to the Professor at the front of the room. He groaned mentally when he heard how closely he would have to be working with Haven today.

Great, just great.

_______________________________ 

At the end of the two hours, Thomas was ready to pull out his hair. Haven, apparently, hadn’t been listening to word of what they were supposed to do and their experiment had ended up a disaster. Not to mention the fact that she kept touching him, placing her hand on his arm, shoulder, ‘accidently’ falling against him. And the comments! He really wasn’t sure what people saw in the girl.

He practically ran out of the room once dismissed, ignoring Haven who asked him once again about the party on Friday. 

He got off campus as fast as he possibly could, letting out a deep breath as he felt the tension wash away. This constant pounding in his head couldn’t be healthy. 

He felt much better by the time he pulled up to the house. He had the rest of the day off, no work, no school, and he was hanging out with Newt. It sounded like a good day to him. 

He walked into the house and couldn’t help but stop in surprise. For the first time, Minho wasn’t sprawled out on the couch. He made his way up to his room, happily changing out of his tan pants and button down shirt into a pair of jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. Much better. Now to get food.

Once in the kitchen, Thomas pulled open the door to the refrigerator and looked inside. Turkey, eggs, salami… he really needed to get some food here. What was it Minho said? Something about a shopping list. 

“Minho made lasagna last night,” a voice commented, making Thomas jump and slam the door shut. He turned quickly and let out a deep sigh when he saw Newt standing in the doorway, a smirk plastered across his face. “There’s enough for two. It’s what I was planning on having.” Newt’s smirk grew as Thomas placed a hand against his chest. Idiot had scared him. He hadn’t thought anyone else was home. “Alright there, Tommy?”

“Didn’t know you were here,” Thomas admitted, his face flushing as he turned back toward the refrigerator and pulled open the door. Now, where was this mentioned lasagna? 

“Where else would I be?” Newt questioned, much closer to Thomas this time as he reached over him to grab a plastic container. Thomas’s breath hitched at the sudden closeness but that didn’t stop him from registering the sudden bitterness in Newt’s voice. 

Thomas frowned and turned his head to look at the other boy. Newt was still standing behind him, close enough that Thomas could feel the heat coming from the other man’s body. Thomas straightened up slowly, Newt only back away enough so he could do so. The blonde’s eyes travelled over Thomas and the dark haired boy had to stop himself from shuddering. He felt as if those eyes were tracing him, drinking in every detail. “You don’t seem as annoyed as usual. Good day?”

Thomas swallowed, trying to get some moisture in his suddenly dry mouth. “Hardly. I’m just happy that I don’t have school or work the rest of the day.” 

Newt chuckled and finally turned his gaze away. He popped open the lid of the container and moved toward the microwave. “I can see how that would put you in a good mood. Why the annoyance, anyway? Horrible co-workers?”

“They aren’t that bad,” Thomas admitted before his mind wandered to Courtney. He winced. “Well, not all of them. I actually get along with Brenda, who I worked with today. She just likes to tease me.”

Thomas felt himself blush as Newt turned to him with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Don’t like to be teased, Tommy boy? Probably should have kept that to yourself.”

Thomas buried his head in his hands and groaned loudly as began to Newt chuckle. Thomas felt a smile tug at his lips. “You actually know Brenda – at least, I think you do.”

Newt nodded slowly as he pulled the lasagna out of the microwave. Thomas grabbed some paper plates. “Yeah, I knew she worked there. Fun girl. Can see her teasing you.”

Thomas rolled his eyes and grabbed some utensils. He made to sit at the table bit Newt shook his head and motioned to the main room. “Minho isn’t here. Take advantage of the TV,” he advised as he fell onto the couch. Thomas slowly sank onto the other side of the couch.

Newt grabbed the remote and turned the television on. Thomas wasn’t really sure what the show was but Newt seemed to enjoy it. Thomas was surprised about how good the flavor really was. “Didn’t know Minho could cook.”

Newt laughed. He shifted slightly, turning his body so he was leaning against the arm rest and facing Thomas. “There are a few things he cooks really well. Everything else is rubbish.” 

Thomas shrugged and took another bite of the surprisingly good dish. “Better than me. Probably a good thing you won’t be here the nights that I cook.”

Newt threw his head back and laughed loudly. Thomas couldn’t help but admire the slope of his neck as he did so. He had the perfect place, right there, to be marked. Marked so everyone could see-

Thomas cleared his throat awkwardly. This was not the time for thoughts like that. Hell, no time was the right time. He had no right to think of things like that. None at all. 

“It’s alright, Tommy,” for one wild moment, Thomas panicked, wondering how Newt could have possibly known what he was thinking. And how he would just say it was alright when it so clearly wasn’t. “-Minho and Gally couldn’t cook a bloody thing when we all moved here. Now they can make a couple of things that are edible. That’s why I did all the cooking when we moved in. As much as I could, anyway.” 

Right, cooking. That’s what he was talking about. 

“I thought you cooked and stuff in exchange for rent,” Thomas said, grasping at the subject desperately. Anything to get the thoughts out of his head. 

Newt’s smile dropped instantly and Thomas knew he had said something wrong. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“It’s alright, Tommy,” Newt said, shrugging his shoulders and looking back toward the TV. “When we moved in here I had a job. I also played foot – soccer. Had a scholarship. Last year I fell and hurt my leg pretty badly. Couldn’t play anymore and had to quit my job. Still walk with a limp most of the time. It gets worse the longer I’m on it. Minho came up with the idea of the exchange so I didn’t have to move out. Good that.”

Thomas felt horrible for bringing up the subject but he couldn’t help but run his interactions with Newt through his mind. “I never noticed a limp.”

Newt faced him once again, a small smile coming over his face. “Thanks for that. It’s there, I assure you. Must be paying attention to something else instead,” he smirked. 

Thomas felt himself blush. Newt couldn’t be implying what he thought he was implying. “I’m not very observant,” he muttered, looking down at his empty place. 

“I don’t know about that, Tommy,” Newt responded quietly. “Think you notice more than you admit.”

Thomas didn’t respond. His mind was frantically trying to figure out exactly what Newt was hinting at. Did he know Thomas had a small crush on him? A crush? Hell, he sounded like a schoolgirl. 

“Come on, Tommy,” Newt said, pulling himself to his feet. “Let’s get going. Still going with me, yeah?” 

Thomas nodded. There was no way he would cancel on Newt, no matter how embarrassed he was. Newt shot him a smile before heading into the kitchen to throw the forks into the dishwasher as Thomas threw away the paper plates. “You wanna drive, or should I?” Newt asked as they walked toward the front door.

“I don’t mind,” Thomas replied, taking out his keys and leading the way to his car. Newt slid into the passenger seat as Thomas ran around to the driver’s side, getting himself into the car. Newt was looking around and Thomas briefly panicked about the mess he had in his backseat. Mostly just books and such for school, but what if Newt couldn’t stand it? Maybe he should have let the other boy drive.

“It’s nice, Tommy,” Newt said, settling back into the seat as Thomas let out a deep breath and pulled away from the curb. 

“You said you needed to get some books?” Thomas asked, merging into traffic flawlessly. 

“Couple of series I read. Next books came out. And gonna read your books after you finish the report.”

Thomas let out a startled laugh. “Are you now? When was this decided?”

“You made me interested,” Newt admitted, shrugging his shoulders as he gave Thomas a small smile. 

“So the real reason you wanted me to come was so you could make sure I got books you wanted to read,” Thomas teased, though he somehow felt a little let down at the thought. It made more sense than any ideas Thomas had come up with. 

“Wanted you to come because I like talking to you,” Newt replied, raising an eyebrow when Thomas turned to him in surprise. “Why do you look shocked? You aren’t a horribly person, Tommy.”

“You just met me.”

“Yeah, but I feel like I’ve known you forever,” Newt replied, looking just as surprised as Thomas once the words left his mouth. He cleared his throat awkwardly before looking out of the window with a light blush on his face.

Thomas felt his smile grow. Newt just complimented him, and said he liked spending time with him. He wasn’t sure what could make this any better.

“But, you’re right, it’s partly because of the books.” 

_______________________________ 

Thomas had never spent so long in a bookstore. He and Newt had gone through every book they had on Lizzie Borden before finally deciding on three that looked promising and ordering two more that they didn’t have in stock. Newt had to drag Thomas around the store, going from one section to the next as he looked for the books he wanted for himself. Thomas found himself smiling more and more as the slightly older boy pulled out various books and told Thomas about them. Thomas had a feeling he would be barrowing a few from the other boy when he had time. 

After two hours, Newt had suggested they head next door to get coffee. Thomas felt his smile fall slightly but agreed. He tried to remember who was on shift at the moment, but he didn’t think he had even looked at the schedule. If he had, he was too tired to remember.

The shop was crowded, Newt and Thomas having to stand behind about five people until they got to the register. Thomas shifted, trying to see who was up front. Chuck was making drinks with a bright smile on his face. The smile only grew when he saw Thomas. Thomas gave him a small wave and turned his head to the side, trying to see who was at the register. Then he let out a groan when he saw long, red nails. 

“Problem?” Newt questioned, trying to see what Thomas was groaning about.

“The girl at the register. She’s one of the ones I don’t get along with.”

Newt craned his head around, trying to get a good look at Courtney, when it happened. “Newt? What are you doing here?” 

Thomas froze at the voice and felt his mouth drop open as Newt turned to catch the girl that threw herself at him, pressing her lips against his. Thomas felt his stomach revolt and he had to swallow quickly to keep himself from being sick. This couldn’t be happening. No way. He thought-

“Alyssa, this is Tommy. He’s the one that just moved in,” Newt said, breaking away from the girl and looking uncomfortably at Thomas. 

She turned to face him, looking at him with familiar blue eyes that widened for a moment before narrowing dangerously. “We met, actually. We’re lab partners.”

Newt blinked in surprise, “You didn’t mention-“

“Your name is Haven,” Thomas said, voice coming out raspy. Newt looked at him in concern but Thomas’s eyes were fixated on the girl in front of him. 

She nodded, “It is. Haven Alyssa. I usually ask people to call me Alyssa.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get this out today or not... I guess lunch breaks are a good thing. :) Hope you all enjoy, I love hearing from you!


	5. Day three - aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/28/2018

Thomas spent the rest of the night in a daze. He honestly couldn’t tell you what had happened as he left the coffee shop with Newt and drove home. He was aware of Newt shooting him confused looks and he was pretty sure the other boy had tried to talk to him at least once but Thomas didn’t acknowledge him.

Haven was Alyssa. Alyssa was Newts girlfriend. Haven was the annoying girl that hit on Thomas all the time. Alyssa was Haven. They were one in the same.

Which just led back to the same conclusion – the girl that constantly tried to get Thomas to go out with her is the same girl that Newt is dating. The girl both Minho and Gally disliked. The girl Courtney was friends with. 

Thomas was pretty sure his head was about to explode. 

Thomas went up to his room as soon as they got home. He didn’t even bother with dinner a while later when Newt came to knock on his door and he completely ignored Teresa when she tried. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Should he tell Newt? Would Newt even believe him if he did? Should he just ignore Hav- Alyssa in class? 

He didn’t have an answer for any of these questions. He was pretty sure that going around in circles wasn’t going to help him. But Teresa probably could.

It was around nine-thirty when he made his way across the hall, only knocking once before pushing the door open. Teresa was lying on her stomach with a book propped up in front of her. Thomas had to smile at the familiar scene – it was the same position she had studied in for as long as he had known her. 

“You done pouting?” Teresa asked, raising an eyebrow.

Thomas rolled his eyes and closed the door softly before making his way to Teresa’s bed and sitting beside her. “I wasn’t pouting, I was thinking.”

She let out a snort of disagreement, “Newt told us you started acting weird the moment you met his girlfriend. He doesn’t know why but I know you. You have a crush Newt and seeing him with his girlfriend made you realize it. And now you’re freaking out-“

“Because Alyssa is Haven.”

Teresa blinked, dropping her book and turning to face him fully. “Sorry, what?”

“Haven-“

“The girl that is stalking you.”

“-is Alyssa. Her name is Haven Alyssa. I know her by her first name, the others know her by her middle. Apparently, she goes by Alyssa with ‘close friends’.” 

Teresa sat up fully, a frown on her face. “But Courtney always calls her Haven.”

Thomas shrugged helplessly, feeling just as confused as Teresa looked. “What do I do?”

“Tell him,” Teresa said instantly, shooting Thomas a look that told him how stupid she thought the question was. 

“But what if I tell him and he doesn’t believe me? Or it makes things weird and we’re stuck living together? Or if he wants me out of the house and I have to move back in with my parents? Or-“

“Thomas, Newt has talked to me twice since I’ve lived here,” Teresa said, cutting him off. “Once was with you. The other was about you. Minho says Newt is closed off, polite but it takes awhile to get to know him. Minho was shocked when he heard you and Newt went out today. He likes you, trusts you. If he finds out about this later and realizes you didn’t tell him-”

“Okay, okay,” Thomas said quickly, cutting her off. She was right, he knew she was right, but he didn’t want to go through it. He didn’t want to have to tell Newt that his girlfriend was a – what was it that Minho had said? The more you tell Newt not to do something, the more he was going to do it? 

“Now, Thomas,” Teresa snapped, pushing him off of the bed and forcing him to his feet. “The longer you put it off, the worse it’s going to be. Go.”

Thomas took a deep breath. She was right. He knew she was right. He needed to tell Newt. Now. He couldn’t put it off. He felt his shoulders tense as he walked down the stairs. “Newt in his room?” he asked Minho, who was, surprisingly enough, once again on the couch. 

Minho paused whatever game he was playing and turned to face Thomas with narrowed eyes. “Depends. You gonna just go down there and ignore him again? Cause if so, no, he went out.” 

Thomas winced at the ice in his roommate’s voice. “I was going to talk to him.” 

“About the massive, twelve year old girl crush you have on him?” Minho asked with a smirk, the coolness leaving his voice instantly. “Because I’m pretty sure he’s the only one that hasn’t figured it out.”

And there goes that blush again. Thomas turned his head to hide the brightness and looked up at the ceiling. Minho laughed loudly. “He’s in his room, shank. Good luck.”

Shank? 

Thomas walked to the basement door and knocked loudly. He hoped Newt could actually hear it from down there. He didn’t want to just walk in. “Not now, Minho!” Newt’s voice came, snapping through the door. 

Thomas winced at the evident irritation. Maybe he should just walk away and let Newt think it was Minho at the door. No, he needed to talk to him – especially since this might be the last conversation they would ever have, if this went bad. “It’s Thomas.”

There was silence for a moment and Thomas wondered if he should speak once again. Maybe he hadn’t talked loud enough? “Yeah, alright. Come in.”

Thomas opened the door and slowly walked down the stairs, instantly spotting Newt draped across his bed with an arm thrown over his face. “What do you want?”

“I have to talk to you,” Thomas muttered, moving to sit at the chair Newt had by a small desk. 

Newt laughed sourly, not even bothering to look up, “Oh, now you want to bloody talk? You didn’t seem so keen earlier.”

Ouch. Okay, so he hadn’t handled the situation well. At all. “I was just… processing.”

Newt sat up sharply, eyeing Thomas with irritation. “Processing what? You knew about Alyssa. I told you-“ 

“I didn’t know that Alyssa was Haven,” Thomas cut him off, not wanting Newt to jump to the same conclusion everyone else had seem to reach. That he was jealous. Not that he wasn’t, obviously, but he didn’t want Newt to wonder what he was jealous over. He would have to hide in shame from the embarrassment if Newt figured that out. 

“So?” Newt asked, throwing his arms out in irritation. 

“What are you doing Friday night?” Thomas asked him, trying a different tactic. 

Newt stared at him, the disbelief clear on his face. Thomas just stared back. Newt finally scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, “Really, Tommy? We’re arguing right now if you hadn’t noticed. And if you haven’t, I need to be trying harder. Not the time to ask me to hang out.” 

“Wh- no. That isn’t – just answer the question!” Thomas groaned, burying his head in his hands. How did Newt do that?! 

“I have a term paper due Monday. Planning on getting it done Friday so I have the weekend free,” Newt answered, eyes still narrowed, “why does that matter? You were acting like a –“

“It matters because Haven – who I didn’t know was Alyssa at the time – has been asking me to go to a party with her all week that is on Friday night.”

Silence. Absolute silence. Thomas clasped his hands together tightly and stared down at the floor. He didn’t want to look at Newt. Didn’t want to see his face. The silence continued and Thomas felt his heart begin to pound harder in his chest, his throat feeling like it was burning. He needed to look up, to see Newt. He didn’t want to but he needed to. What was on his face? Was it disbelief? Anger? Did he think –

“What did you say?” Newt asked, breaking Thomas out of his thoughts. Say? Did Newt not understand? Did he just think he misheard? “To Alyssa. Did you agree?”

Thomas shook his head frantically, “Not my type,” he muttered, then winced. Probably not the type of thing to be saying to her boyfriend – well, maybe it was exactly the type of thing to be saying to her boyfriend. “Not that there is anything wrong with that type. I mean, if you’re interested in it. I’m not. I usually go for blondes. And men. Well, sometimes there are women, but men are usually more –“

“You’re rambling, Tommy,” Newt said quietly. The soft tone made Thomas’s head snap up so he looked at the person he was desperately still hoping was his friend. Were they even friends in the first place? Thomas thought so. 

Newt was still on the bed but his face was completely expressionless, something Thomas had yet to see. He was staring at the floor, his eyes narrowed just slightly. Dangeriously. “Newt? I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say, or how to tell you. I just – maybe she meant as friends and I just read everything wrong-“

“No, positive you didn’t,” Newt said, eyes flickering up to meet Thomas’s for a moment before flickering away once again. “Not the first time.”

Thomas blinked, surprised at the last sentence. Did that mean she had done something like this before and Newt knew about it? Who the hell would do that to this man? If Thomas had this person with him- 

Not the time, Thomas.

“You didn’t eat. There’s a plate upstairs for you,” Newt said after a moment, still not looking at Thomas. “Just heat it up.”

Thomas took that as a dismissal and stood slowly, not taking his eyes off of Newt. “Newt, do you –“

“Not now, Tommy,” Newt whispered, not moving. 

Thomas nodded. He moved toward the stairs quickly and made sure to shut the door softly behind him. He paused there for a moment, leaning back against the door. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say. So he did what Newt told him to do.

He didn’t speak or look at Minho as he walked by him into the kitchen but he was aware the other boy was staring at him questioningly. He just kept moving, automatically taking the food out of the refrigerator and heating it up in the microwave. 

Newt obviously believe him – for the moment, anyway. And he obviously needed time for himself. But what was he thinking? Thomas didn’t like that the other boy was hurting, and he really didn’t like the fact that he was hurting because of something Thomas did. Not that it was his fault. Not really.

Yeah, just keep trying to convince yourself of that, Thomas. 

He had barely sat down with his food when he heard footsteps in the main room and Minho’s voice. Only a second later, the front door slammed shut. 

Minho burst into the kitchen not a second later with a glare on his face, “What happened? First you come upstairs like a zombie, and now Newt leaves the house looking like he’s going to commit murder. What the shuck did you do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys were making me laugh with the reviews from the last chapter. I'm glad so many of you liked it! Let me know what you think about this one!


	6. Days Four and Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/28/2018

Thomas tried to listen for Newt that night but he wasn’t sure the other boy even came home. He finally drifted off about 2:30 a.m. and woke up about eight the next morning – something that really didn’t work out well for him considering he had class at nine. And, if he remembered correctly, Newt had a class at eight o’clock. 

Thomas barely made it to his first class, sliding in right as his professor was about to shut the door. He gave him an apologetic smile and slid into the first open seat before trying to focus on what he was saying as he began his lecture. 

It was useless. He kept replaying the night before, seeing Newt’s expressionless face in his mind. He couldn’t figure out what the other boy had been thinking, couldn’t figure out what had happened in that eight minutes (yes, eight, he had counted) to make him storm out of the house ready to “commit murder” if Minho was to be believed. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe he should have waited a little longer. Maybe he should have tried to talk to Hav – Alyssa first (he had no clue what to call that girl). Maybe she had a reason for doing what she did. Maybe he just misunderstood the entire thing.

What if Newt had gone to talk to Alyssa and the entire thing had an explanation? What if Newt was upset with him for talking about his girlfriend like that? Maybe Newt thought Thomas was trying to make trouble between him and his girlfriend. Maybe Newt –

Why was he so worried about this? He had known this kid for… not even a week. Days. Literally days. He shouldn’t be this much of a mess over someone he had only known for days. No matter how soft his hair looked, or how his accent made Thomas –

Nope. No. He shouldn’t be worried about this. He had done what he had to do, done what he thought was right. There was nothing for him to be worried about. If Newt was going to give up their friendship over this, then he wasn’t worth it anyway.

Right?

Thomas went through the motions the next few hours, moving from one class to the other, before heading into work. 

It wasn’t until he actually got there that he realized he had the possibility of running into Courtney. Courtney who was Alyssa’s friend. Thomas barely even looked toward the register, heading straight to the schedule. He was closing, Adam was working until five, and Chuck was closing with him and would be clocking in for an hour. Brenda would be working until Chuck got in. Thomas sighed in relief. It was Courtney’s day off. 

Brenda raised an eyebrow when he walked out, “Something wrong? You ran in here like something was chasing you.”

Thomas glanced at Adam and saw that the boy was watching them. “Everything’s fine,” Thomas muttered, taking the cup from her hand and beginning to make the drink. 

He worked silently, not in the mood to socialize. Brenda left as soon as Chuck arrived, speaking in low tones to the boy before she did so, and Chuck didn’t try to talk to the Thomas as he took Brenda’s place. The two of them worked well together and they worked together to start closing what they could when Adam left at eight.

They got out of the coffee shop about 11:15 p.m. and Thomas drove home quickly, hoping he might have a chance to speak to Newt. No such luck. “Newt went to bed early,” Minho answered his unasked question. Thomas blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even closed the front door before the other boy gave him the information. “Try again tomorrow.”

Thomas shot a glare at the other but Minho didn’t notice as he was staring at the television. Thomas then looked at Gally who snickered from his place beside Minho. With a scowl, Thomas moved into the kitchen and made himself a sandwich before heading down the hall to the stairs. He paused briefly by Newt’s door, wondering if the boy was really asleep or if he was down there for the sole purpose of avoiding him. Thomas scowled at the thought and moved off toward his room. If the boy wanted to ignore him then Thomas would let him. He wasn’t going to be bothered by it. Nope. Not bothered at all.

Okay, so he was a little bothered. 

He let his door close a little louder than necessary behind him and threw himself onto his bed, burying his head in his pillow. He didn’t have lab until 10:00 the next day and he still had a paper to work on. He shouldn’t be focused on Newt. Not now.

With a sigh, Thomas sat up and pulled one of his new books toward him. He might as well start on that paper. He was too irritated to do anything else and he certainly wasn’t going to get any sleep.

After twenty minutes he realized there was no way he was going to get any studying done. He had read the same page four times and he still had no idea what it said. Sighing in resignation, he changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, flipped off the light, and crawled into bed. He would talk to Newt in the morning. He didn’t have classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. He would be there. 

With that thought, Thomas let himself fall into unconsciousness. 

__________________________ 

Newt wasn’t there. Thomas has finally pulled himself out of bed around 8:30, knowing he was late for breakfast, but walked down the stairs hoping to see Newt hanging around. Instead, he found Minho (did that guy ever have class?). “Missed him,” Minho muttered, not even glancing up from where he was sitting at the table, books spread out around him. 

Thomas bit back an irritated sigh, “I thought he didn’t have classes on Thursdays.”

“Doesn’t,” Minho said, “made breakfast and left. Didn’t even eat.”

Thomas let out an irritated sigh, moving to grab some cereal. So he was right, Newt was avoiding him. He slid into the chair across from Minho, watching as the other boy read and took notes. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Minho taking notes and Thomas eating, before Minho let out an irritated sigh and put his pen down, turning burning eyes to Thomas. “Are you going to tell me what happened between you two the other night?”

Thomas avoided his gaze and looked down at the table. “If Newt wants to tell you, he can. It isn’t my-“

“Yeah, you said that the other day,” Minho snapped, making Thomas look up at him in shock. He had never heard the other boy use a harsh tone before. Minho winced when he looked at Thomas’s face, lifting his hand and rubbing it across his eyes. “Sorry. Look, Newt is my best friend and he-“ Minho hesitated before continuing, talking so quickly Thomas had a hard time following him, “Newt has had a really hard time the last couple of years. If something has happened to push him back to where he was then… well, things can get really bad. I just need to know that he’s okay.”

Thomas instantly felt horrible. It was obvious Minho really cared about Newt and something had happened that Minho didn’t want to tell him about. And he couldn’t answer the other boy. Because he didn’t know. “I had something to tell him,” Thomas said carefully, not wanting to give away all the details, “and I’m not sure how Newt took it.”

Minho’s dark eyes studied Thomas for a moment before he nodded once. “Alright. Fine.” Minho picked up his pen, looking back at his book as Thomas stood and moved toward the sink. He washed it quickly, wanting to get out of the kitchen and away from the judgment he could feel coming off of Minho. He had almost made it to the door when Minho spoke again. “Just give him time. Whatever happened, Newt won’t talk to you about it until he’s ready. The more you push, the longer it will be.” 

____________________________ 

Thomas went to lab, anger and dread pooling in his chest as he walked into the room. He couldn’t afford to miss the class, his grade was already suffering when he showed up every day, but he didn’t want to see Alyssa. He had to force himself to leave the house. 

Luckily it seemed he wasn’t the only one that didn’t want to be there. Alyssa didn’t even bother to show up. 

Thomas let out a breath of relief when the clock hit ten and the door was shut. His shoulders relaxed when he realized he wouldn’t have to see the girl until the next Tuesday – that was five days he had to prepare and figure out what exactly happened between her and Newt. 

He stopped for a burger on his way home when class was over, deciding to listen to Minho’s advice. There was no point in sitting around and waiting for Newt to talk to him. Thomas was off work that day so he had time to do whatever he wanted to do the rest of the day. Maybe he would try to work on that paper again. Or see if Teresa wanted to hang out. 

No one was home when he got there. He looked at the calendar and realized Minho, Gally, and Teresa were all in class and Newt was still missing. Deciding to take advantage of the empty room, Thomas sprawled out on the couch and turned on the television. He switched through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. 

He finally settled on a rerun of a sitcom and tried to take his mind off of the last few days. He was only ten minutes into the show when he drifted off to sleep.

Thomas was shaking. Someone was touching his shoulder and he was rocking from side to side. Thomas groaned, trying to pull away from whoever was moving him. “Tommy, Tommy! Wake up, mate!”

The voice broke through the darkness, making Thomas’s eyes snap open as he sat straight up. Newt jerked back quickly, barely avoiding getting hit in the head by Thomas as he moved. Thomas missed the warmth instantly. “Newt?”

“How long you been lying there? Back’s going to hurt,” Newt warned, smirking as he sat beside Thomas. 

Thomas glanced at the clock. “About an hour, I guess. Whe-“ Thomas broke off as he remembered Minho’s warning.

Newt stared at him, obviously waiting for Thomas to continue, but Thomas kept his mouth shut. “I had some things to take care of,” Newt said, answering the question Thomas had wanted to ask. 

Thomas nodded at the non-informative answer and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t know what to say. After two days he was completely blank. Did he ask about Alyssa? Did he act like it never happened? Was he supposed to-

The thought drifted off as a warm hand gently touched his arm, “You’re going to fry your brain, thinking that hard,” Newt warned, a small smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. Thomas gave him a small smile back, still not sure what to say. Newt let out a deep breath, drawing his hand back. “Look, Tommy. I just needed to – this isn’t the first time,” Newt said, letting out a deep breath and moving his eyes away. He stared at the television, the blank look once again spreading across his face. “Forgave it once. Not again. Had to talk to Alyssa.”

Thomas’s head worked frantically at the words. What did that mean? Did they break up? Did they work it out? He needed more information. “So, you talked?”

“I talked, she yelled,” Newt muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes tightly. “Fought. Doesn’t matter.” 

Thomas slowly nodded, still not having the answers he wanted but unwilling to push the other boy. The two lapsed into silence, sitting beside each other as the television continued to play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long - I've had the flu and didn't even try to write anything. I hope this part is enjoyable. Let me know!


	7. That Night...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/28/2018

“I really don’t feel like cooking,” Newt complained a couple hours later, the first thing that had been said. 

Thomas’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the pouting boy in amusement. “Who’s going to be here to eat? I know Teresa won’t be.”

“Gally’s working,” Newt answered his head falling back against the couch and looking at Thomas with puppy eyes, “And Minho has a late class. So, just us.” He continued to stare at Thomas, bottom lip jutting out slightly as he waited for the response. 

Thomas laughed, reaching out to brush his hand against Newt’s soft blonde hair. He pulled back instantly, mortified. What had he been thinking? Newt didn’t comment on the odd gesture, just continued to pout. “Alright, we can order a pizza,” Thomas relented, trying to fight off his embarrassment. “If we must.”

Truthfully, he didn’t care if Newt cooked or not. Well, he did. But just because he knew his awkwardness in a kitchen would be of great amusement to the other boy and he didn’t want to be anymore embarrassed than he already was. 

Newt’s pout turned into a small smile as he grabbed his phone from where it had been sitting on the table in front of them. “Pepperoni alright then?”

Thomas just laughed, nodding as the other boy called in the order. 

“About forty minutes,” Newt informed him, throwing his phone down on the table and sprawling out on the couch, bringing his body closer to Thomas. Thomas swallowed hard, leaning toward the arm of the couch. He didn’t have a problem with the other boy being close to him – and that was the problem. He would have liked to be even closer and if he gave into temptation for even a moment, things would get very awkward, very quickly.

“What do you say, Tommy?” Newt questioned, eyes closed and missing Thomas’s internal struggle. “Pizza and a movie?”

Thomas let out a snort, “Aren’t you a cheap date.”

The right side of Newt’s mouth quirked up as his eyes remained closed, “Aw, Tommy. If this was a date, you would know it.”

Thomas mentally groaned at the words while his face began to burn. “I think you just broke my heart,” Thomas said back sarcastically, trying to hide how much the words had affected him. His heart was pounding and he was hoping the other boys eyes were still closed, because there was no way Thomas could look at him. 

“Wouldn’t do that,” Newt said, standing quickly. “Going to get a drink. Want anything?” 

Thomas shook his head, still not looking at the other boy as he made his way into the kitchen. Newt was back only seconds later, a bottle of water in hand. He placed a can of soda in front of Thomas - Thomas’s favorite brand. “Thought you might change your mind,” Newt shrugged at Thomas’s questioning look. 

Thomas merely gave him a small smile before focusing on the no-longer entertaining sitcoms. “I feel like I should be doing something,” Thomas remarked, hoping that the change of topic would help the other boy forget the past conversation. 

“Eh, it’s good to be lazy sometimes,” Newt replied, standing once more and making his way to the multitude of DVD’s on the shelf near the television. “What do you feel like? Action? Sci-fi?” 

“Action,” Thomas replied instantly. He wasn’t in the mood for sci-fi – mostly because he felt that you needed to be able to commit a certain amount of attention to the genre to make sure you knew exactly what was going on. He didn’t feel he could do that with Newt so close to him. Action was usually people blowing a bunch of things up. Not really something you had to be completely focused on. 

Newt placed something in the DVD player before making his way back toward the couch. Thomas thought it might be his imagination but he thought the other boy was closer than he had been before. “I guess we could play a game, if you don’t want to watch something,” Newt said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Thomas in remorse. “Didn’t exactly ask you, did I? Just chose a movie – we can-“

“Movie is fine,” Thomas cut him off quickly, surprised at the rambling the other boy seemed to be building up too. He had never seen Newt do something like that before – it was almost cute.

Newt shot him a smile, pressing play on the remote before letting it fall to his side. The two sat in silence as the movie began to play, Newt focused on the movie while Thomas was trying very hard not to be obvious in the fact that he was focused on Newt. He had never really been this close to the other boy before – not close enough to see every eyelash and the light freckles under Newt’s right eye. 

He really was gorgeous to look at. Thomas didn’t understand how Alyssa would have done anything with anyone else when she had him. Hell, Thomas wasn’t worth that! No one was. Thomas was really starting to think there was something seriously wrong with the girl. If he was with Newt, he wouldn’t even look at anyone else. Definitely not some barista that had made it obvious they weren’t interested. 

Thomas jumped when the doorbell rang. “I got it,” he muttered, standing and walking to the door quickly. 

He paid for the pizza before shutting the door and placing it on the table. Newt was looking at him through narrowed eyes, arms crossed over his chest. “I ordered it. I could have bloody paid for it.” 

Thomas ignored him, flopping back on the couch and opening the box. He took a deep breath and his mouth began to water at the smell. “It’s been way to long since I’ve had this,” he moaned, grabbing a slice. 

Newt rolled his eyes but watched as Thomas took a bite and let out another moan. “Bloody hell, Tommy. Someone wants in your pants they just need to buy you a shucking pizza.” 

Thomas choked, face turning red as the words processed. Newt laughed loudly as he grabbed his own slice as Thomas continued to cough. “Not true,” Thomas gasped, tears at the corner of his eyes, “I would also require ice cream.”

Newt laughed, eyes crinkling, and Thomas stared in slight surprise. He had figured Newt would be upset about Alyssa – of course, maybe they had worked through everything and there was nothing to be upset over? 

“Good to know, Tommy,” Newt said, smirking at the younger boy before turning back to the forgotten movie. “Shuck, I have no idea what happened.” 

“Isn’t it your movie?” 

“Nope,” Newt replied, pressing pause on the remote and turning slightly so he was facing Thomas. “It’s Gally’s. Not really that interesting, to be honest.”

Thomas smiled, glad he wasn’t the only one that thought so. They two ate in companionable silence for a couple of minutes. “So, you work with Courtney,” Newt said hesitantly, smirking when Thomas winced. “What’s that like?”

“Thought we weren’t talking about this,” Thomas muttered, avoiding the other boys gaze. He was uncomfortable again. Very uncomfortable. 

“Not talking about Alyssa,” Newt commented lightly. Thomas glanced up and saw the hard glint in his eye and decided not to push. “we can talk about the irritating girl she calls a friend. Girl is insane.” 

Thomas frowned, confused at the subject, but answered anyway. “Agreed. Pretty sure it was her that key’d my car a couple months after I started working at the shop. Not that she’d ever admit to it.”

Newt’s eyebrows shot up. “Not really surprised, but why would she do that?” 

Of course he had to bring that up. Way to make things awkward, Thomas. “I, uh, turned her down when she asked me out.” 

Thomas winced as Newt slowly nodded, his eyes darkening as they studied Thomas’s face. “Seems like a common occurrence. Why did you turn her down?” 

Well that was a… interesting question. He wasn’t sure if Newt would like the answer or not. “Uh, I tend to go for more… well, I tend to go for guys, actually.”

Newt looked surprised and Thomas prepared himself for what was to come. He didn’t know how Newt would take the information and he had been through this enough times to know that sometimes the information could end a friendship. And, if Newt thought back on their conversations, it wouldn’t be hard for him to realize Thomas had been almost flirting with him. Thomas wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to be friends anymore. 

“Thought you were bi,” Newt said, startling Thomas with the words, “didn’t know it would be a problem to date a girl.” 

Oh. Thomas sighed in relief, sending Newt a small smile. It didn’t sound like he had a problem with it. “I am. I just tend to lean more toward men than I do women,” he shrugged, “I’ve dated both. Courtney just…wasn’t my type.”

Newt chuckled, “Most men would think she was everyone’s type. Pretty sure, Courtney thinks she is everyone’s type.”

Thomas nodded frantically, “Exactly. Which is why I’m pretty sure she’s the reason I have a huge scratch going down the side of my car.”

Newt nodded back, face completely serious but eyes twinkling, “You shook her faith in herself. You deserved it.”

Thomas gasped, pressing his hand to his chest in mock indignation, “So I should have just agreed so she could go on thinking she’s perfect in every way?” 

The twinkle vanished from Newt’s eyes at the words and he looked down, “Yeah, seems stupid to do that, doesn’t it?” he muttered. Thomas stared at him, pretty sure he touched on something Newt didn’t want to think about. But what was it? He needed something happy to make the other boy smile once again. 

“Not stupid. Just…nice.” Thomas shot him a small smile, “I’m not that nice.”

Newt laughed, leaning over so his shoulder was pressed against Thomas’s and he nudged it slightly, “You seem pretty shucking nice to me, Tommy.”

Thomas’s heart began to pound at the contact. Don’t make a big deal out of it, Thomas. He’s just joking around. Nothing to think about. “I do seem that way, don’t I?” Thomas replied, feeling something swoop in his chest as Newt laughed once again. 

Newt shook his head as he stopped laughing. “You working tomorrow?” 

“Nope,” Thomas replied, smiling at the thought of two days off in a row. 

“Want to do something when I’m done at school? I should get out around four.” 

Thomas frowned, thinking of the conversation they had the other night. “Weren’t you going to study or work on a paper or something?” 

“Don’t really feel like studying, Tommy,” Newt replied, scowling. “Want to do something fun.” 

Thomas nodded slowly, not sure where this was going but not willing to let Newt go out without him.

Wow, way to be possessive, Thomas. You don’t even have the right to be possessive. 

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” 

“Heard there’s a party,” Newt replied evenly and Thomas’s mind flashed back to the other night. That party. Right. 

“Newt-“

“Look, Tommy,” Newt turned his head, staring straight into Thomas’s eyes. “Alyssa said some things that, well, made me furious. Not with you,” he said, seeing Thomas wince, “just in general. Had a few complaints for me. Apparently, I never took her to do anything fun, which is a bloody joke considering we never did anything except what she wanted. The few times I refused to do something because of school or whatever, she-“ he broke off, closing his eyes tightly before opening them once again. “I think it’s bloody well hysterical that you turned her down. Multiple times, from what I’ve heard,” he shot Thomas a knowing look.

“I-“

“You’re my friend,” Newt went on, not even bothering to listen to whatever Thomas was going to say. Probably a good thing, because Thomas had no idea what it had been. He just felt like he needed to say something. “I told her I couldn’t go, you turned her down. This isn’t about getting back at Alyssa-“ he smirked at Thomas’s disbelieving look, “alright, not completely. Just go to the party with me.” 

Thomas found himself nodding before he had a chance to think it through. Right. The party. With Newt. Together. Nothing could go wrong there.

Newt relaxed, leaning more fully against Thomas’s arm. Thomas had to fight against his instinct of wrapping his arm around him and letting him press against his side. “Thanks, Tommy.”

The two sat there in that position until Teresa came home.


	8. The "party"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/30/2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys! I started back up at school and between that and work, I'm having some trouble finding time for writing. Anyway, short chapter here. I'll try to do a longer one soon!

Newt was gone when Thomas woke up the next morning, which wasn’t surprising considering Newt had an early class. Unfortunately, this meant that Thomas wasn’t able to talk to him. Which meant he spent the entire day questioning how good of an idea it was to go to this party.

What if Newt wanted Thomas to go to the party just so he could - no, Newt had been truthful the night before. He wanted to go to the party with Thomas just to the party. There wasn’t any other motive in it than that. Well that and maybe he wanted to see Alyssa.

And what was with that? Newt had never really answered the question about him and Alyssa. Had they broken up? Or were they just… well, ‘on a break’? Maybe they were – 

No. Thomas was done thinking about this. He was going to finish classes, go home, and then go to the party. With Newt. Newt, who was fighting with his still-possible girlfriend, and who Thomas had a huge crush on. To a party. Together. Where there would be alcohol. 

Yeah, Thomas shouldn’t drink. Anything. He shouldn’t even look at the alcohol. He had enough experience with alcohol to know that if he wanted to keep something a secret he should avoid it at all costs. If he didn’t, Newt was sure to know everything he was thinking by the end of the night. And, considering the thoughts Thomas tended to get around Newt, that would be bad. Very, very bad.

Right. No alcohol. 

By the time Thomas finally made it home that afternoon, he was a complete wreck. Teresa took one look at him and bent over holding her stomach as she laughed hysterically. Thomas just sent her a glare as he stomped toward the stairs, ignoring her sputtering behind him. “Better start getting ready!” she called after him, still laughing, “You only have six hours!”

“Ha freaking ha,” Thomas muttered as he made his way into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. Six hours until the party. Newt would be home in two.

This was going to be a long day.   
_________________________________________ 

Thomas was right. He had tried to read, watch a show, and even surfed online before he finally decided he had wasted enough time for him to look at the clock. He had managed to kill two hours. Two hours. 

Closing his laptop in disgust, Thomas pushed himself off of the bed. What was he supposed to do? Maybe watch something? Get something to eat? Maybe play a game? 

“Tommy?” Newt asked as he slowly pushed the door open, “Busy?”

“Bored,” Thomas replied, turning his head slightly so he could look at the other boy.

Newt let out a small smile and sank onto the bed, staring down at Thomas who was lying there. “We don’t have to go tonight. Not if you don’t want to.”

Thomas shook his head and swallowed hard as he stared up at the blond. Newt was on his bed. Thomas was on his bed. They were on his bed. Together. Newt was in arms distance. Thomas could easily grab hold of Newt’s arm and pull him down beside him. He tore his eyes away and cleared his throat. “We can go. I know you want to.”

Newt hesitated for a moment. “Honestly? I want to go because I told Alyssa I wouldn’t before all of this happened. Childish, isn’t it?”

Thomas rolled his eyes and let a smirk cross his face. He had thought that had been obvious from the moment Newt mentioned the party. “I know. We can still go. Though – maybe just for a couple of hours. Not really my scene.”

Newt chuckled and reached out to pat Thomas on the shoulder before he stood. “Deal, Tommy.”  
_____________________________________________________ 

It was just as horrible as Thomas thought it would be. He hadn’t been lying about the fact that he wasn’t one for parties. Loud music, drunk people who were even more annoying than they usually were, and girls hanging off of him that didn’t seem to get the hint.  
Yeah, he wasn’t exactly having a good time.

He had somehow wandered away from Newt or maybe Newt had wandered away from him about half an hour before, shortly after they arrived. Thomas was seriously hoping the other boy was still in the house somewhere or he was going to throw a fit. 

“Thomas!” 

Thomas groaned at the familiar voice. Of course she had to find him. “What?” He asked, not even pretending to be nice as ‘Alyssa’ stomped over to him.

“Decided to show up, huh? What? You had to come see me now that you destroyed my relationship?!”

Thomas let an eyebrow raise as he fought back a vicious chuckle. She had to be kidding. “Uh, no blaming that on me. That was all you.”

Alyssa’s hand tightened around the drink she was holding as her eyes shot daggers. “I know the true reason you told him. You like him. I should have realized you were gay when you ignored me. But guess what?” She asked as she stepped toward him with a cruel glare. “It’s never going to happen. We might not be together now, but Newt can’t leave me. Especially for some fagg-“

“I was wondering where you went,” the British drawl made Thomas stiffen instantly. How much of that had he heard? “Been looking for you,” Newt continued as he slid his arm around Thomas’s waist.

Thomas felt his mouth drop open in shock as Newt’s thumb began to make circles on his waist. “Problem?” Newt questioned Alyssa with hard eyes.

“No, no problem,” Alyssa hissed back. Thomas felt a sort of twisted pleasure at the loathing on her face as she stared at Newts arm.

“Good. For a moment I thought I heard a comment that is in no way appreciated,” Newt drawled, his eyes still focused on his ex-girlfriend. “Now if you’ll excuse us…”

He trailed off as he gently led Thomas away from the girl that was hissing like a cat. “Newt?” 

“Just keep moving, Tommy,” Newt replied quietly, his hand tightening from where it rested on Thomas’s waist. 

Thomas wasn’t complaining. His body felt like it was on fire and he was pretty sure the area where Newts arm rested felt hyper sensitive. What was happening? Had he missed something? Newt had known Alyssa wouldn’t be happy to see him – well, either of them. What was going on?

Thomas didn’t say anything. He just let the thoughts fly through his head dizzyingly as Newt led him out of the house and down the street to where they parked his car. “Sorry,” Newt finally muttered, removing his arm as they made it away from the groups of people. “Not sure why I did that. She just…pisses me off sometimes.”

Thomas felt dread pool in his chest at the comment. No, he wasn’t going to complain about the way things went but he sure didn’t like the after effect. Of course it didn’t mean anything. He was getting himself worked up over nothing. As usual. “It’s fine,” Thomas mumbled as he slid into the passenger seat. 

Newt didn’t speak as he got into the driver’s side. He shot Thomas small glances as they drove back to the house in silence. They were almost halfway there before he finally spoke. “I head what Alyssa was saying to you. She wasn’t-“

“Just leave it,” Thomas said loudly as he felt his face flush in embarrassment. He didn’t want to think about how long Newt had been standing close enough to hear what Alyssa had said to him. What if he heard the part about the crush? What if he thought it was true? Not that it wasn’t but even Thomas knew Newt wasn’t ready for something like that. Hell, Thomas didn’t even know if Newt was attracted to guys! He didn’t want to move out of the house because his roommate was uncomfortable to be around him.   
Newt fell silent, his eyes flickering to Thomas questioningly. Thomas continued to ignore him. He didn’t want to talk about this. He kept his eyes trained out of the window instead.


	9. Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/30/2018

It was a good thing the next day was Saturday because Thomas ended up pacing in his room for hours once they got home. He didn’t know what Newt had heard but he knew it was more than he was comfortable with. And Alyssa – the words that came out of her mouth – well, she wasn’t completely wrong. He didn’t think the two of them would get back together but how was he to judge that? Newt had admitted this had happened before and he forgave her the first time. Why would anything be different this time?

And why was he so focused on this? It wasn’t as if he had a chance anyway. Newt had never given any indication that he was attracted to guys. Thomas knew that. He also knew he should be trying to get over his crush now so he wasn’t completely broken when Newt got into a new relationship, whether it was with Alyssa or someone new.

He finally fell asleep around four o’clock Saturday morning and his alarm pulled him from oblivion at ten. He had two hours to take a shower, get ready, and grab something to eat before he had to go into work. He let out a groan and rolled over before burying his head in the pillow once again. Maybe he should just call in. It didn’t seem worth it today. 

It was only a couple of minutes later his door clicked open. Thomas tensed and kept eyes closed just in case. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. Hell, why was someone coming into his room anyway? Weren’t they all about privacy here? 

The mattress dipped beside him and a familiar arm slid around his waist as a soft body pressed against his back. Thomas relaxed instantly and shifted slightly so he was gripping Teresa’s hand. “Newt told us you had a run in with Alyssa,” Teresa murmured, resting her forehead against his back. Thomas tensed once again. This was exactly the conversation he didn’t want to have. “He didn’t tell us what happened but – Thomas he was really upset.”

Thomas snorted. Right, Newt was upset. “She was right. The entire thing is hopeless. I don’t know anything about their relationship – hell, they could get back together today and I…”

“I really doubt Newt’s planning on getting back with that bitch,” Teresa said, cutting him off and holding Thomas tighter, “I’m pretty sure Minho had to lock him in his room so he didn’t go after her last night for whatever it was she did to you.”

Thomas just shook his head, “That isn’t the point. If it isn’t her it’s going to be someone else. I need to-“

“You need to get up, go to work, and let Newt think for himself,” Teresa told him sharply, sitting up and pulling Thomas over so she could stare down at him. “Thomas, you don’t know anything about what’s going on in Newt’s head. We’ve only been here a week. I know you have feelings for him but you don’t even know him.”

Thomas winced at the words. She was right. He had a crush on Newt, a crush that grew everyday as he got to know the boy better, but the truth was that he had only known him a week. He didn’t know him well enough to decide anything. Not yet, anyway.

Thomas slid out of bed and grabbed his work clothes before making his way to the bathroom. After lying there as long as he did, and his talk with Teresa, he had a little over an hour left to get into work and Saturday traffic was always horrible. 

“Hey Tommy,” Newt said the second he walked down the stairs. Thomas felt his heart skip a beat at the voice but he forced a smile on his face as he looked toward the blonde. 

“Newt. Look, sorry about-“

“What the hell are you sorry for?” Newt asked, his eyebrows up as his eyes traced over Thomas’s face. “I should be apologizing. The only reason she went after you is because I-“

“Did what you had to do,” Thomas cut him off, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t blame you for that. I just… I shouldn’t have acted like that last night. I was a little embarrassed and it put me in a bad mood.” He rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a slight blush heat his face. Of course he was embarrassed. It hadn’t exactly been a confrontation he wanted Newt to witness. Especially since he didn’t know how much he had witnessed. 

“Alright,” Newt drawled as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. “Well, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about anything. She’s the one that went after you because of something she caused. Anyway, I was coming up to see if you wanted a sandwich before you went to work.”

Thomas nodded quickly, “I’ll make something really fast –“

“I’ll do it,” Newt replied as he pushed himself off of the wall and walked toward the kitchen. Thomas blinked after him in surprise. 

“I can do it!” Thomas protested as he finally followed the older boy. “I mean, lunch is a fend for yourself thing, I can make a sandwich.”

“Sit down, Tommy,” Newt ordered, the weariness evident in his voice as he began to pull out items for the sandwich. 

“But-“

“Sit.”

Thomas sat, not really sure what was happening. He glanced around, noticing he hadn’t seen Minho or Gally that morning and Teresa wasn’t downstairs either. “Where is everyone?”

“Gally’s at work,” Newt told him, placing the sandwich in front of him quickly, “and Minho and Teresa left when you were in the shower. Something about a new game they had to be in line for.”

Thomas rolled his eyes as he began to eat. Newt silently began to put the items away, his eyes flickering to Thomas every few seconds. Thomas kept his own eyes focused on the table, not wanting to look toward Newt. He knew Newt had heard something. He was acting… odd. Maybe Newt was doing something nice for him before he turned him down. Before he told him that he needed to get over him. 

“Look, Tommy, I know you have to go to work, but when you get off I think we should talk.” 

Thomas felt his heart fall to his stomach. There it was. He placed the sandwich on the plate, no longer feeling hungry. “Uh, maybe you should just say it now. Easier than waiting all day.”

Newt’s brow furrowed as he studied Thomas’s face before looking down at the sandwich. Thomas began to blink frantically as he stared at the table. This was it. He knew it was coming so why did it hurt so much? He felt like his chest was on fire. This was ridiculous, he had only known this guy a week. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. 

Thomas winced as he heard footsteps coming toward him. Oh god, what was going to happen? Couldn’t he just say it and let it be done? Thomas couldn’t go to work without knowing what he was going to say. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could go to work even if he did know what he was going to say. He knew he should have called in. 

But instead his mouth fell open in shock as a pair of lips gently pressed against his forehead. “I’m gonna need more time than this and you’re going to be late,” Newt whispered, placing the half eaten sandwich in Thomas’s hand. “Go to work and we’ll talk when you’re done.”

Thomas’s eyes snapped up just in time to see the other boy walk out of the kitchen. 

Okay, it was official. He didn’t understand anything anymore. 

_________________________ 

The first half of Thomas’s shift was with Chuck and Adam. He flat out ignored Adam and felt bad that he spaced out half of the time when Chuck was talking to him. He didn’t know what he was supposed to think at the moment and it was affecting his work. He had made the wrong order twice and had missed one entirely. Chuck had eventually switched him places, letting Thomas work the register instead. He made a point to pay attention after that, not wanting to upset any more customers. 

Chuck was replaced by Brenda around three and the girl looked confused when she saw Thomas at the register. They all knew he would rather make drinks than anything. After a brief chat with Chuck, Brenda took over for him quickly, sending worried glances Thomas’s way. 

It was at five that Courtney came in to take over for Adam. She had tried to take over the register but Thomas had ignored her order for him to move and Brenda had finally snapped at the girl and told her to get on drive thru. He received glares the rest of the night.

By the time he was able to leave, Thomas was completely drained. He didn’t know what this “talk” was going to be about, couldn’t make sense of what had happened before he left, and he had stressed himself out to the point that he just wanted to sleep. Maybe if he just walked in and ignored it, Newt would leave him alone. 

That didn’t seem to be the case as Newt was waiting for him when he walked into the house. The older boy seemed to be pacing back and forth as Gally, Minho, and Teresa stared at him in amusement. “Finally,” Gally muttered as Thomas walked through the door.

Newt shot his friend a glare before biting his lip and turning to Thomas. “You haven’t eaten, yeah? Thought we could go get something.”

Thomas swallowed hard as his eyes darted toward Teresa. She nodded minutely, her gaze basically ordering him to agree. “Let me change first,” Thomas said as he motioned to his work attire. Newt nodded and stepped aside to let Thomas slide by him. 

He quickly changed into a pair of jeans and t-shirt, the same clothing he had seen Newt wearing. His hands shook as he pulled the shirt over his head. It couldn’t be horrible if Teresa was encouraging him to go, could it?

Newt was still standing where Thomas left him and he motioned for Thomas to follow him out as soon as he caught sight of him. Newt led the way toward his car and Thomas nervously slid into the passenger seat. Newt didn’t speak as they drove and Thomas was left wondering where exactly they were going to eat – and what the hell this conversation was about. Eventually Newt pulled into a drive-thru and turned to Thomas with questioning eyes. Thomas nodded his consent, wondering why Newt wanted to eat with him if they were just going to pick up food, but ordered a meal as he pulled out his wallet. Newt ordered his own food and pulled the car forward to the window. He ignored the money Thomas tried to hand him and paid for the food quickly before receiving the bags. 

Thomas checked them to make sure the full order was there as Newt pulled away. In the opposite direction of the house. Thomas’s hands clenched as he stared out the window. He had no idea what was happening and he didn’t like it. At all. 

Finally, Newt pulled into the parking lot beside a park. The two sat there in silence for a moment before Newt took a deep breath and opened his door, sliding out of the car. Thomas followed him hesitantly to a picnic table a little further into the park. The two sat across from each other and began to eat in silence. Thomas was almost completely finished, and even more worried, before Newt finally started to speak. “I heard everything Alyssa said to you last night.”

Thomas’s face instantly turned red as he buried his face in his hands. Oh god, this is what he had been afraid of. Newt knew. And –

“No – don’t – hell, Tommy, do you really think I don’t feel the same way?” 

Thomas’s head shot up so fast his neck ached as he stared at the boy in front of him. Did Newt just… he couldn’t mean that he… had he heard a different conversation the night before? 

“I mean, I felt drawn to you when we met. It grew as we talked and then… bloody hell, Tommy, we’ve only known each other for a week! Not to mention I had been dating Alyssa for a year! I was, am, confused. Not to mention you don’t know about-“

Thomas’s heart was pounding and he swore water was rushing in his ears. “You – you feel it too?”

Newt rolled his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips, “Idiot,” he muttered. “Pretty sure you’re the only one who didn’t notice.” The smile slid off of his face as he stared at Thomas, “But really, it’s been a week. I broke up with Alyssa three days ago. I can’t – not yet.”

Disappointment flooded through Thomas as the words penetrated his mind, but at the same time there was a giddiness in his chest that wouldn’t go away. Newt liked him. Newt liked him and hadn’t said they couldn’t at all, he just said not yet. Thomas could do not yet. 

Newt hesitated for a moment before reaching forward slowly and pressing his hand against Thomas’s as it rested on the table. Thomas flipped his hand over instantly, letting their fingers meld together. Newt smiled faintly as he stared down at them. “Tommy, there are things I have to tell you before we can…before anything else happens. And I’m not ready to tell you yet.” He looked at Thomas, eyes pleading for him to understand. 

“Of course,” Thomas said, his voice hoarse as he gently squeezed the hand holding his own. “It’s only been a week, after all. Can’t expect you to share all of your secrets with me.”

Newt smiled as he stood and moved around the table, sliding beside Thomas and placing his lips against Thomas’s cheek. Thomas closed his eyes and tried to engrave this moment in his mind. The giddiness in his chest exploded and he felt a stupid smile overtake his features. “Thank you, Tommy,” Newt whispered against his ear as he wrapped his arm around the younger boys waist. 

Thomas nodded, moving carefully to lean against the body beside him. Neither spoke. They just held each other in comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, sorry? Been horrible with school and work. Just so you know, even if it takes me awhile to update, I will finish this story! I hope you guys are still interested...
> 
> (And school gets out in four weeks, so I will have more time then.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/30/2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...hi everyone... so yeah. I'm sorry? Like, really, really sorry. I was reading some fanfics last night and came across mine... I had no clue I hadn't updated since April. So, I am so sorry. I promise to try to be better at updating... I hope people are still interested in this.

Thomas had to work nine to six Sunday, so he got to see Newt briefly that morning before he left. Breakfast had been waiting for him as he stumbled down the stairs, still dazed at what had happened the night before. Newt had taken one look at him and chuckled. He motioned toward the seat that Thomas had claimed as his at the kitchen table. “Sit, Tommy. Knew we shouldn’t have stayed out so late.”

Thomas rolled his eyes but sent a small smile to the slightly older man. “It was worth it,” he replied as he slowly took a bite of the omelet sitting in front of him. 

Newt blushed slightly and turned back toward the stove as Teresa and Minho slowly made their way into the kitchen. “Thomas, why do you always have to be working?” Teresa groaned, falling into her seat and resting her head against Thomas’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, you never get to play with us!” Minho agreed as he greedily snatching the plate away from Newt. 

Thomas blinked at the words. He was a little unsure of what the problem was. He turned a questioning glance to Newt. 

The blonde rolled his eyes, “Minho and Teresa decided we were going to have a gaming day. They’ve been trying to find a day everyone can do nothing but play that new game they got.”

“But we can’t!” Minho complained, grabbing the calendar off of the wall and waving it in front of Thomas, “Because every time we think we find a day you’re working!” 

Well, thank God for that. 

“Sorry,” Thomas said, trying to sound repentant. From the look Newt gave him he didn’t do a very good job. “I guess you guys will just have to play without me. I can always join in whenever I’m not working.”

Minho nodded seriously as he studied the schedule. “Do you have your schedule for next week, yet? The only days you have off this week are Tuesday and Friday.” 

Thomas nodded and produced the schedule he had copied the night before. He had been so worried about his talk with Newt that it hadn’t even registered. He had grabbed it from where he had dropped it on his desk last night when he woke up and was planning on copying it to the schedule Minho was holding. 

The paper was snatched out of his hand before he even had the chance to look at it. Minho and Teresa placed it on the table beside the calendar. Both were talking in low tones, motioning to other schedules. After a moment, Teresa frowned and glanced up. “Tom? Did you even read this or just copy it?”

Thomas frowned back at the odd question. “I was in a hurry. Why?”

“Because you’re set to work six days with forty hours,” Teresa said slowly.

Thomas choked on his drink and blindly moved forward, attempting to grab the schedule. His eyes flew over the numbers frantically. There was no way he would be able to go to school, get all of his homework done, and work six days. It was pushing it with five. 

They were right. Sunday 9 – 6. Monday, 3 – 11. Tuesday, 5 – 9:30. Wednesday, 5 – 11. Thursday, off. Friday, 3 – 11. Saturday, 4 – 11.

Thomas groaned loudly. Not only was he scheduled six days, four of them were closing shifts, and the one opening shift he had was schedule the day after one of the closing shifts. 

Thomas felt a light touch on his shoulder and looked up to see Newt staring down at the schedule with a frown on his face. “Maybe you copied it wrong,” Newt said, his thumb making soothing motions on Thomas’s shoulder. 

That was a possibility. He had been distracted after all. Right, he would just go in this morning and look at the schedule again, copy it down correctly. 

“Right, I’ll look,” Thomas said, relieved, as he glanced at the clock. He stood when he realized he was going to be late if he didn’t leave right at that moment. Newt’s hand slid down from Thomas’s shoulder to his hand, which he squeezed gently before letting go. Thomas felt his mouth go dry instantly as the blonde smirked at him. 

“Have a good day, Tommy,” he said as Minho laughed loudly and Teresa smirked at the blush spreading across Thomas’s face. 

“Yeah, bye,” Thomas muttered, quickly making his way out of the room. 

The first thing he did was go to the back room and check the schedule. There it was, exactly as he copied it. But, now that he was actually paying attention, he quickly noticed something else. “Brenda?” Thomas asked, moving behind the counter and tying his apron strings around his waist. “What happened to-“

“Wondered if you would notice,” she said, quickly finishing up a drink for the only customer in the shop. She handed it to the woman with a smile before turning her attention back to Thomas. “If you had paid any attention yesterday, you would have noticed that while your schedule, Chucks, Adams, and mine were overloaded with hours, Courtney basically had ten the entire week and they were small shifts that would have been completely meaningless. Last night, about ten minutes until close, Jansen came in and pulled her into the office. She left in tears a few minutes later and Jansen printed out a new schedule without her.” 

Thomas blinked in shock. “He fired her?” 

“Yep,” Brenda said, a smile overtaking her face. “Apparently, he installed cameras without us knowing and he saw just how often she clocked in and then went to do other things, or didn’t clock out for breaks. So our schedules will be a mess until they find someone to take her shifts.” 

Thomas let out a deep sigh. Honestly, he was just as excited as Brenda that Courtney wasn’t working with them anymore, however, that meant there were even more hours to cover. “What about this week?” 

Brenda motioned to the current week’s schedule that was posted on a board by the door. “Might want to check it. He moved us around starting tomorrow to cover all of her shifts. She wasn’t working today anyway, so it worked out.” 

Thomas moved over to the schedule quickly, jotting it down and shaking his head. Great. His hours had been extended to cover a missing person – at least he still had two days off this week. Tomorrow he was working 3 – 11, Thursday 1 – 9, Friday 3 – 11, and Saturday 9 – 6. 

“Apparently, those camera’s helped him figure out who is best at which shift,” Brenda continued, coming up beside him and motioning to her own schedule. “You and I close the most often, most likely because we’re some of the only two who actually get everything done quickly and efficiently. Adam always waits as long as possible so he can get more hours. And Chuck is great at opening.” 

Thomas nodded and moved toward the register. On mornings like this, Brenda would take the drive thru and Thomas the inside customers. The two really did work well together. 

“So, how’s it going with lover boy?” Brenda teased and she began restocking cups. 

Thomas blushed brightly. “Well, I, uh…”

Brenda stared at him a moment, her lips twitching, before she finally gave into her amusement and began to laugh loudly. “Oh, so there really is a story there! Come on, Thomas! Tell me.”

Thomas sighed and began to talk, knowing that it would be pointless to argue.

____________________

Thomas really was tired by the time he made it back to the house. Adam had been furious when he heard about Courtney and saw the new schedule – and Thomas really wouldn’t be surprised if the dark haired boy followed Courtney out the door. If that happened they would really have an issue. They really did need at least three people on most shifts and Brenda, Chuck, and Thomas couldn’t work all day, every day. 

“Thomas is here!” Teresa said as he stepped into the house, a smile on her face as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. “And he smells like coffee!”

Thomas rolled his eyes and pushed his best friend off of him. “I wonder why?” he mumbled sarcastically. 

“So, did you copy it down wrong? You were a little distracted last night,” she commented, brushing her hair out of her face and sending Thomas a wicked grin.

“Nope. Jansen fired Courtney and the hours are crazy until they hire someone to replace her,” Thomas muttered. 

“Come eat!” Minho yelled from the kitchen. Obviously, the boy had started without them. It was obvious he was talking while chewing. 

“I’m going to change first,” Thomas said loudly, making his way down the hall and up the stairs. Teresa was frowning at him as he disappeared around the corner. 

“So, not a mix up then?” Newt questioned the moment Thomas walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, a full plate in front of him though he hadn’t started eating. Gally looked to be almost finished and had his eyes glued on the textbook in front of him, while Teresa and Minho shoveled food into their mouths. 

Thomas shook his head and smiled in thanks as Newt handed him a plate. “Nope. And he changed the schedule this week so I close ever night except Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily I still have the two off.” 

Teresa paused long enough to look at him thoughtfully. “You know, I haven’t been getting a lot of hours at the store – maybe I should apply.” 

Thomas stared at her in horror. Not that she noticed. She had once again focused her attention on her food. He couldn’t imagine the chaos if Teresa began working with him. She would probably end up throwing scalding coffee at one of the customers. Not to mention, she and Brenda weren’t exactly friends. The two had never really liked each other and Thomas had always tried to keep them as far apart as possible. 

Thomas broke away from his thoughts as he heard a lightly chuckle across from him. His eyes flickered up instantly, meeting the eyes of the boy in front of him. Newt was chuckling lowly, shaking his head as his eyes flickered to Teresa and back to Thomas. Thomas felt his face heat up when the other boy slowly dropped an eyelid in a wink. “Eat up, Tommy,” Newt said, now smirking at the other boy. “Seems you’re going to have a busy couple of weeks.”

“Longer than that,” Thomas said with a sigh, trying to ignore the blush he knew was staining his cheeks. “Even after they get someone hired, they have to go through training. Then they’ll work some of the easier shifts until they get the hang of things. Only after that will Jansen actually place them onto the schedule.”

Newt looked at him in sympathy before they started to eat. “So, you need to change the schedule for the week?” Gally finally spoke, his voice hard as he stared down at the book. 

Thomas shook his head. “Still have off on Tuesday and Wednesday, so it should be fine.”

“You gonna be here at all tomorrow?” Newt questioned, a frown on his face. 

“I have to leave by 8:30 to make it to class, then go straight from school to work. I close, so I’ll probably be here around 11:30,” Thomas answered, already dreading the long day ahead of him. “The rest of the week, I should be here for breakfast. Dinner on my days off.” 

Thomas was surprised how cute Newt looked with a line between his eyebrows. “What are you going to be eating?”

“He usually grabs something from the shop,” Teresa answered, looking amused at the line of questioning. Thomas was too confused to be amused. 

Newts scowl deepened. “That isn’t dinner, Tommy.”

Thomas held up his hands, “I’ll bring a frozen dinner or something. It’ll be fine.”

Gally laughed loudly, looking up from his book for the first time, “Dude, that isn’t going to make him back off. He hates those things. He threw some of mine out last week.”

“Unhealthy,” Newt muttered, eyes narrowed as he glared down at his plate. “Bloody idiot. Probably grab a cookie…” 

Thomas looked at Minho and Gally, bewildered as Newt continued to mutter under his breath. The two just looked back at him, Gally smirking and Minho smiling brightly. When he saw those two weren’t going to give him any answers, he turned his gaze to Teresa. She ignored his gaze and turned to the other boys, “Who’s up for a movie?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited 1/30/2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this fast enough?! Lol. Enjoy... let me know what you think.

Thomas had never been so exhausted in his life. The first week hadn’t been too bad, he had gotten his papers written and what homework he could do for the week was completed on Tuesday night. On Wednesday he had actually had a chance to hang out with his roommates for a while before Newt had to leave for class, Teresa and Gally for work, and Minho had been so consumed in his video game at that point that Thomas hadn’t even tried. 

And then the little sanity he had left began to leave him. He was either at work or school, going home long enough to sleep and do what homework he could. He had been grabbing a piece of toast or an apple as he walked out the door, too tired to get up early enough to eat the breakfast Newt had prepared. He was getting home every night around midnight, then trying to catch up on the homework he hadn’t finished, so he usually fell into bed somewhere around three thirty every morning, only to sleep for a couple of hours and start all over. 

By the time his next day off came around, Thomas hadn’t spoken to his roommates in days…although there was always a paper sack full of food left out on the table for him to take with him. He had barely managed a small “thank you” when he saw Newt one day but the boy had merely smiled slightly and ushered Thomas out the door. 

He was tired. He was tired and he was cranky. He was tired, cranky, and missing Newt like crazy. It was ridiculous. He had known the guy for three weeks, and yet he felt a deep longing in his stomach as more days wore on. The worst part was that Thomas knew the other boy was right downstairs. But Newt was usually asleep, or at least in his room, by the time Thomas came home and Thomas couldn’t make himself get up any earlier than he had too. So, it was usually just a passing “good morning” as Thomas ran out the front door. 

Not only was Thomas missing Newt, he was also growing more and more worried. Their situation was complicated, to say the least, and Thomas couldn’t help but feel that the more time he spent away from the blonde, the more likely it was that he would change his mind. Maybe the wonder at a new person would ware off and Newt would find someone else. Or maybe he was just caught up in the moment and now, with time away from Thomas to think, he had realized that it wasn’t a good idea. 

Or maybe Thomas needed to stop thinking so much. 

That Thursday, Thomas drug himself out of bed and into his car, not bothering with breakfast, and made it to his lab before the door closed. He worked in silence, Alyssa/Haven making comments under her breath that would usually upset him. However, he was at the point that he really didn’t care what the girl had to say. 

He managed to get through the lab and quickly made his way home. He knew that it was a Thursday and Newt didn’t have class so he was probably home somewhere, but the only thing he wanted at the moment was a bed. 

Thomas didn’t bother to call a greeting when he got home. He just moved up the stairs and into his room sluggishly and fell into his bed. He threw an arm over his head and closed his eyes as his body began to relax into the mattress. It was twelve-thirty. He could sleep for a couple of hours and then start the paper that was due next week. His next day off wasn’t until next Friday (he had received his schedule a few days before) but the new kid Jansen hired would be starting Monday. A week of training, a week of easy shifts, and then everything would be back to normal. Two more weeks of this and it would be over. 

Thomas drifted off after that, sinking into a deep darkness that couldn’t be overcome. 

“Tommy? You need to wake up. You won’t sleep at all tonight and be exhausted tomorrow,” someone said, gently rubbing Thomas’s arm. “Come on, it’s time to eat. You need real food.”

Thomas groaned, slowly blinking his eyes open. He stared at the young man in front of him in confusion. Newt stared down at him with concern in his dark eyes. “You alright, there?” 

The words began to register and Thomas sat up quickly, his eyes flying to the clock by the bed. “Six-thirty? Really?”

“You’ve been asleep for hours,” Newt agreed, shifting slightly so he was leaning against Thomas’s headboard. “I didn’t even know you were here until I finally came up and checked a couple hours ago. Didn’t expect you to sleep this long.”

Thomas groaned and let his head fall into his hands. “I have a paper to write. And I need to start researching for my final, and-“

“You need to rest,” Newt said firmly as he placed a hand on Thomas’s back. Thomas relaxed into the contact, letting out a deep breath as his shoulders dropped. “Come on, I made chicken parmigiana.” 

Newt stood, favoring his leg slightly. Thomas looked at him in concern when he noticed the tension between Newt’s eyebrows. “Sore today,” Newt muttered as he reached for Thomas’s hand. Thomas let him take it gladly and Newt proceeded to pull him off the bed and onto his feet. “Come on, Tommy. Minho will eat it all if we don’t get down there.”

Thomas laughed slightly as he followed the other boy. He watched closely as Newt limped down the stairs. It was obvious he really hurt today. He shouldn’t have bothered pulling himself up the stairs to get Thomas. 

“Finally awake?” Minho asked, staring down at the food in front of him hungrily. “Awesome. Can I eat now?”

Newt snorted and gently lowered himself into a chair. “Can’t you wait even a minute?”

“I have waited,” Minho whined, turning to Thomas with a pleading look. “He said I had to wait for you. You’re here. I want to eat!” 

Thomas smiled at the words. He looked up at Newt to see the boy had a slight blush on his cheeks. “Go ahead,” Thomas told Minho, slowly cutting a piece of his own chicken. 

The first bite was amazing. For someone that used to live off of frozen dinners, Thomas had gotten extremely spoiled since he started living here. The past week had been hell. Yes, Newt had been packing him sandwiches and given him some of the leftovers, but nothing compared to freshly cooked, home-made meal. 

“Where are Teresa and Gally?” Thomas finally asked, having noticed their absence but not really caring enough to comment on it until now. 

“Work,” Minho answered, food flying as he spoke with a full mouth.

Newt looked at him in disgust. “That was horrid.”

Minho swallowed and mouthed the word horrid to Thomas, who hid a chuckle behind a cough. Newt rolled his eyes but Thomas saw the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Slim it,” Newt growled at Minho. 

“So, what are you two shanks doing after this?” Minho asked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. 

“I have a paper-“

“You are not doing homework,” Newt informed him, eyes narrowing as he pointed at him with his fork. “You don’t have to go in Saturday until four. You can do it before you go. Tonight, we are watching a movie.”

Thomas wasn’t sure if he should be irritated or excited about this arrangement. “Oh? Are we?”

“You need a break,” Newt stated, raising an eyebrow challengingly. “Movies are relaxing.”

“I’m in the middle of a game,” Minho whined, looking longingly toward the living room. 

Newt ignored him, “We are going to sit and watch some stupid comedy that we don’t really have to pay attention to and you are going to stop stressing out.” 

“But my game…”

“I have a television in my room,” Newt snapped at Minho. “It isn’t connected to the cable line but I do have a DVD player. You can continue playing your precious game.”

Minho beamed at him and grabbed the empty plates on the table. “Isn’t it my day to clean?” Thomas asked, feeling guilty when he realized he hadn’t taken the trash out or done anything else that day like he was supposed to. 

“I got it,” Minho said cheerfully. “You two go cuddle on Newts bed.”

Thomas felt his face heat instantly as Newt swore at his best friend. Minho laughed loudly as he turned his back and began rinsing off the dishes. 

“Go change, Tommy,” Newt ordered, looking down at Thomas’s jeans with a scowl. “Don’t know how you slept in those things.” 

Thomas did as ordered, going up to his room and changing into a pair of flannel pajama pants. He hurried back down the stairs where Minho motioned him toward the basement. “Go on, lover boy,” he said sappily. 

Thomas scowled but quickly made his way to Newts room, his heart pounding. He hadn’t been down here since the night he told Newt about Alyssa. Not exactly the happiest memory. “Pick a movie, Tommy,” Newt said from where he was lounging on his bed, his leg propped up on a pillow. “I’m not moving.”

Thomas grabbed the first movie on the pile Newt motioned to, placing it into the DVD player and turning back to face the other boy. Newt was sitting with his back against the headboard, legs out in front of him. The TV was facing the bed so the logical place to sit would be beside him. But was that a little too…forward? They were at a really awkward stage in their ‘relationship’ and sitting beside him just seemed to be a way of asking for disaster. 

With those thoughts in mind, Thomas turned to the small desk behind him and moved forward to grab the chair – only to be caught by a hand on his wrist. “I don’t think so, Tommy,” Newt said in amusement, tugging gently to pull Thomas down beside him. 

“Newt-“

 

“It’s fine,” Newt told him, arranging them so Thomas was sitting beside him, back against the headboard and legs in front of him. Newt moved himself cautiously, resting his shoulder against Thomas’s and leaning against him. “Movie.” 

Thomas felt his heart pounding and he knew that Newt had to feel it. Wasn’t this what Newt wanted to avoid? At least for now? Thomas wasn’t imagining that conversation, right? 

“Stop thinking,” Newt muttered, turning his head so his eyes met Thomas’s. “I haven’t seen you in a week. Relax.”

Thomas sighed and slowly moved his left arm so it went around Newt’s waist. He froze as Newt shifted but the other boy was only leaning in further, most of his back now pressing against Thomas. He moved his right hand to wrap around the hand Thomas had resting on his leg and entwined their fingers together. Thomas’s left hand tightened, pulling Newt as close as possible. Hey, if he wasn’t trying to get away, Thomas would take full advantage of the moment. 

“See?” Newt said, resting his head back against Thomas’s shoulder. “Relaxing.” 

They stayed in that position the entire movie, neither of them wanting to move and ruin the moment. Once the credits began to role, Newt let out a deep sigh and turned his head slightly so his forehead brushed Thomas’s chin. “Have to say, not really liking the new hours, Tommy,” he muttered, his breath dancing across Thomas’s collar bone and making his skin break out into goose bumps.

Thomas chuckled lowly, “I’m not really a fan, either. New kid starts Monday. Things should go back to normal in a couple of weeks.”

Newt nodded slowly, letting go of Thomas’s hand to snake his arm around Thomas’s waist. His left hand moved around Thomas’s front, virtually trapping him in a hug. Thomas swallowed hard, moving his own free arm around the other boy. “I’m still not… not ready to tell you,” Newt finally said, his voice low, “but I don’t like not being around you, either.”

Thomas smiled as the words sank in. So he hadn’t changed his mind. “Yeah,” he agreed, resting his head against the other boys.

Newt let out a sigh and Thomas felt the blonde’s body press against his as he let out a deep breath. “Catch up homework on Saturday,” Newt ordered, “Sunday you open and get off at two.” Since when did Newt know his schedule better than Thomas? He honestly had no clue what he worked on Sunday. “Let’s do something.”

Let’s do something? Thomas thought frantically. Did he mean hang out, as friends, like they did the day they went to the bookstore? Did he mean like they were doing now? Or did he mean something closer to a date? 

Did he really care?

Not really, he was happy to do anything as long as he got to spend time with the other. “Sure.”


	12. Author Note

...So, hello everyone! I know it's been years since I updated and I honestly have no idea if anyone is even still interested in this story. But, if anyone is, I wanted to let you know that as of today, 1/28/2018, I will be doing some major edits on the first twelve chapters and then start working on continuing the story. 

I'll put notes on the edited chapters letting you know that I've gone through them! There might be some changes from what you remember but I hope this will make things flow a little better.


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